FIFA releases Israel statement amid Beirut and Palestine bombing

Tom Weber

• Updated: 4 Oct 2024 16:20 BST
• 3 min read

FIFA continues to refrain from taking immediate action against Israel and the Israel Football Association.

The conflict in Palestine still rages on and there is no end to the hostilities in sight. On the contrary, Israel has escalated tensions by bombing and undertaking a ground invasion of neighbouring Lebanon in recent days.

On Wednesday evening, Iran responded by launching a missile barrage on military targets in Israel and occupied Palestinian territories. The official Palestinian death toll has exceeded 40,000 and hundreds of thousands more have been displaced, condemned to starvation or imprisoned.

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The Levant has descended into chaos and Israel continues to refrain from ceasefire negotiations despite accusations of genocide and ethnic cleansing in addition to previous claims from human rights organisations that the country is an 'Apartheid state.'

Football only plays a minor role in this humanitarian tragedy, but it has been impacted as well. Dozens of Palestinian athletes have been killed and stadiums bombed.

FIFA release Israel statement

In 2022, the world of sports united to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but the response to Israeli aggression has been sluggish if not almost non-existent.

FIFA and UEFA swiftly sanctioned Russia and prohibited its teams from taking part in international competitions. However, Israel has not yet had to fear sanctions.

This double standard has been pointed out by the Palestine Football Association, who petitioned FIFA to take action by accusing their Israeli counterparts of the offence of discrimination.

After a 'legal analysis' of the matter, FIFA has refrained from taking immediate action but "the FIFA Disciplinary Committee will be mandated to initiate an investigation into the alleged offence of discrimination raised by the Palestine Football Association."

Moreover, "the FIFA Governance, Audit and Compliance Committee will be entrusted with the mission to investigate – and subsequently advise the FIFA Council on – the participation in Israeli competitions of Israeli football teams allegedly based in the territory of Palestine."

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“The FIFA Council has implemented due diligence on this very sensitive matter and, based on a thorough assessment, we have followed the advice of the independent experts,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in an official statement.

“The ongoing violence in the region confirms that, above all considerations, and as stated at the 74th FIFA Congress, we need peace. As we remain extremely shocked by what is happening, and our thoughts are with those who are suffering, we urge all parties to restore peace to the region with immediate effect.”

As a result, Israeli teams are still permitted to compete in official tournaments. The national team is slated to host France on October 10 in the UEFA Nations League.