More than 30 legal experts have called for a coalition of the European Football Association (UEFA) to ban Israel and its clubs from the race over Gaza atrocities.
A letter addressed to UEFA President Alexander Seferin on Thursday said the Israeli ban was “essential” citing a report by UN agents confirming Israel is implementing genocide against Palestinians.
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It urged the governing body of football and its members to “fulfil its legal and moral obligations in favour of international law and move forward with an immediate and complete ban on Israeli football.”
The letter highlighted the damage Israel is inflicting on Gaza sports. At least 421 Palestinian footballers have been killed since Israel launched its military attack in October 2023, the letter explained that Israeli bombing campaigns are “systematically destroying Gaza’s football infrastructure.”
“These actions destroyed a generation of athletes and erode the fabric of Palestinian sports.”
“Because the Israeli Football Association (IFA) has not challenged these violations, it is involved in this system of oppression and is not accepted to participate in UEFA competitions.”
The letter signers include Elisa Fon Joden Forsey, executive director of the Remkin Genocide Prevention Institute, and several former UN experts and academics in international law.
“UEFA must not be involved in sports washing such serious violations of international law, including but not limited to genocide conduct,” the statement said.
It arises amid growing international rage at Israeli brutal attacks on Gaza, which killed more than 66,000 people and turned most of the enclave into tiled rubs.
The blockade on humanitarian aid on the territory also caused fatal hunger, leading to the declaration of hunger for more than half a million people in Gaza in August.
Quick action against Russia
Craig Mokhyber, former director of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said he would allow countries committed to genocide to participate in sports, allowing them to “normalize.” It is an “action of accomplice.”
“We remember the situation in apartheid South Africa well, where the world is united to segregate the regime to change its behavior, which, very importantly, includes sports and cultural boycotts,” Mohiber told Al Jazeera.
International football FIFA halted South Africa in 1961 due to the apartheid regime. The move was seen as a historic victory of a global move to end violence and separation.
Recently, in 2022, both FIFA and UEFA stopped Russia within days of launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“It has responded very quickly and forcibly regarding Russia for the Ukrainian invasion, but has limped their feet by trying to avoid action regarding the full-scale genocide that has been recognized as an apartehid practice, it is an astonishing level of hypocrisy and double standard, and is trying to avoid a full-scale genocide that has been recognized as an apartehid practice.”
Palestinian rights advocates have been calling for Israel to be banned from world football competitions, as they have specialized teams based in illegal settlements on the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
FIFA rules clearly state that “member associations and their clubs may not be able to play on the territory of another member association without the latter approval.”
However, Israeli clubs and national teams continue to participate in international competition through FIFA and UEFA.
Although based in West Asia, Israel joined UEFA in 1994 amid a boycott of Arab and Muslims.
Pushing to ban Israel
As the attack on Gaza continues, Israeli national teams have been taking part in European World Cup qualifying rounds, with the club competing in the UEFA continental tournament, with Maccabi Tel Aviv FC appearing in the Europa League this season.
But the demand for Israel to be expelled from world football has gained momentum in recent months.
Football fans from Glasgow to Paris, Rome and Bilbao have flew Palestinian flags to show solidarity with Gaza despite restrictions on such displays.
There have also been complaints about the end of the violence after Israel killed Palestinian football legend Suleiman al-Obeid in an air attack in August.
One such call came from UEFA itself. The federation has released photos of the late football player on social media platform X.
However, Liverpool star Mohamed Sarah criticized UEFA for not mentioning who killed him. “Can you tell me how he died, where and why?” Sarah wrote in her response.
A few days later, a pre-match presentation of the UEFA Super Cup featured a banner saying, “Stop killing civilians. Stop killing children.”
The UEFA Foundation also included two Palestinian refugee children in the medal ceremony.
According to multiple news reports from Europe, UEFA was scheduled to vote to halt Israel soon, but the move was postponed after President Donald Trump announced plans for Gaza’s ceasefire.
A letter on Thursday warned UEFA that Trump’s proposal would not exempt the coalition of liability to ban Israel.
“This is because while the plan aims to provide a path to peace, it actually undermines international law, Palestine sovereignty and principles of self-determination.”
“We will not impose any obligation on the state of Israel as a right to occupation of Gaza, the West Bank or East Jerusalem, nor will we be able to address the legal consequences of Gaza’s genocide or make Israel’s demands to provide compensation to the Palestinians.
Human rights nonprofits weigh it
On Wednesday, Amnesty International also called on FIFA and UEFA to halt Israel.
“As Israeli national football team prepares for the World Cup qualifiers against Norway and Italy, Israel continues to carry out genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip,” group chief Agnes Callum said in a statement.
“At the same time, Israel is cruelly expanding its illegal settlements and justifying its illegal forward post bases on the West Bank as part of its illegal occupation of Palestinian territory.”
Since the outbreak of the war with Gaza, European countries and clubs have never withdrawn altogether in protest from the match against Israeli teams despite growing international pleas to avoid the country.
A boycott of the match against Israel will automatically give Israel a 3-0 victory.
Asish Prashar, campaign director for Israeli Games, a group that helped organize Thursday’s letter, highlighted the role of football in building a global community as the world’s most popular sport.
“Cultural is a way to normalize it in a way that is more valuable to the perpetrators of genocide than having a seat at the United Nations,” Prashar told Al Jazeera.
“So it is essential to follow the model that was placed before us along with apartheid South Africa.
The Israeli game highlights Gaza’s genocide and leads the media campaign to call for a boycott of the country’s football.
Last month, the group sponsored a sign in New York City’s bustling Times Square, which said, “Israel is committing genocide. Football Federation: Boycott Israel.”
“FIFA can’t solve geopolitical issues.”
Israeli top allies, the United States, will co-host the World Cup next year, and President Trump was creepy with FIFA chief Gianni Infantino.
In light of the warm relations of the leaders, Prashar said he was not optimistic that the League of Nations would oppose Israel. However, he added that individual countries can force FIFA’s hands if they announce a boycott of Israel.
On Thursday, Infantino suggested that FIFA is not ready to punish US allies.
“While FIFA cannot solve geopolitical issues, it can promote football around the world by leveraging unity, educational, cultural and humanitarian values.
Mokhiber, a former UN expert, said soccer should bring people together not around countries that are guilty of genocide, but around positive values.
“I know very well how close Impantino is to Donald Trump,” Mokhyber said. “It’s not at all surprising that he makes such a statement. He’ll ask him to look at his history book and see that the ban on soccer and boycotting is part of FIFA from the start.”
Prashar also looked at historical precedents and questioned where FIFA would draw the line.
“Gianni Infantino is normalizing genocide,” he told Al Jazeera. “Had he let Nazi Germany play while they were violating genocide? That’s the question I’m asking him.”
FIFA and UEFA did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment by the time of publication.
