Palestine and Israel on the agenda for FIFA Congress

The Palestinian Football Association (PFA) is bringing a motion at the FIFA Congress in May demanding “decisive action” against Israel and its football association (IFA).

The motion, which would require the first debate at a major sports body conference on the war in the Gaza Strip, will be one of the main items on the agenda in Bangkok at the annual meeting, along with the choice of host of the 2027 Women’s World Cup and a plan to combat racism. 

The proposal is based on a letter the PFA sent to FIFA in March.

It calls for “appropriate sanctions, with immediate effect, against Israeli teams, including national representative teams and club teams, due to the international law violations committed by the Israeli occupation in Palestine, particularly in Gaza”.

Israel’s military offensive followed the October 7 attack by Hamas in southern Israel.

The PFA accuses its Israeli counterpart the IFA of violating FIFA’s statutes by recognising clubs based in occupied territory and for failing to take “decisive action against discrimination and racism, in the areas under its jurisdiction”.

“Only in Israeli football can a club openly block Arabs from joining its ranks, and harsh violence is treated solely as a disciplinary infraction,” the PFA statement said singling out Beitar Jerusalem which, it said, has never signed an Arab player.

The proposal was supported by the Algerian, Iraqi, Jordanian, Syrian and Yemeni football federations — but not by Qatar or Saudi Arabia.

The agenda in Bangkok also includes the creation of new FIFA committees “including seven for women’s football”, and the choice of the host for the 2027 Women’s World Cup.

A joint European bid by Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands will be pitted against the United States and Mexico — already hosts of the previous year’s men’s World Cup alongside Canada.