Palestine FA demands Israel be kicked out of Fifa

The Palestine Football Association cites human rights and humanitarian law violations committed in Gaza during the Israel-Palestine conflict in a submission to Fifa

The calls for Israel to be kicked out of Fifa are growing (Getty)

The Palestine Football Association (PFA) has called for a Fifa sanction and to exclude the Israel Football Association (IFA) from Fifa on the grounds of human rights and humanitarian law violations committed in the Gaza Strip.

The submission to the international football governing body concerns a number of violations of both international law and Fifa regulations.

It called on Fifa to push the IFA to address discrimination and racism within its league and to address IFA violations of the Fifa statutes in its continued inclusion of football teams located on the territory of another association (Palestine) in its national league.

Article 4 of the Fifa Statutes strictly prohibits “discrimination of any kind against a country ... or group of people” on any grounds, and says any breach of this non-discrimination obligation is punishable by “suspension or expulsion”.

The submission lists a number of examples that indicate the IFA has failed to take action against discrimination and racism in its league, “which constitutes a direct violation of article 3 of the Fifa Statutes”.

“The clearest example of this is ‘Beitar Jerusalem FC’, which is an Israeli professional football club from Jerusalem and a member of the Israeli Premier League.

“As reported by The Economist: Supporters of the football club proudly sing about how it is ‘the most racist team’ in Israel They scream epithets, such as ‘terrorist’, at the Arabs who play for opposing squads.”

The Palestine FA claim that Beitar Jerusalem fans proudly sing that they’re ‘the most racist team’ in Israel (Getty)

The PFA also claim Israeli football clubs openly block Arabs from joining its ranks and harsh violence is treated solely as a disciplinary offence “to be handled by the biased Israel Football Association internal dispute resolution mechanism”.

The submission also highlights social media posts by some administrators and clubs in Israeli football, including a post on LinkedIn by the CEO of the Israeli Professional Football Leagues, and a Facebook post by FC Maccabi Netanya.

“[The posts] indicate strong support for genocide in Gaza. Many of the Israeli footballers are in the IDF, an occupation army that is currently engaged in the most serious violation of international humanitarian laws.”

The PFA added that Fifa continues to incorporate “at least five illegal settlement clubs located in the territory of the PFA into its national league”.

The Fifa submission went on to list the damages and problems with Gaza’s football infrastructure because of Israeli attacks.

“All the football infrastructure in Gaza has been either destroyed or seriously damaged, including the historic stadium of Al-Yarmuk, which was turned by the Israeli occupation into a concentration camp, as documented by more than one international organisation. Israeli bulldozers dug up the pitch just to destroy it.”

The PFA added: “The Jenin Club, Jenin camp club, and Nurshams club in the West Bank were damaged by the Israeli occupation army during the multiple incursions of both refugee camps after October 7.

“Licenses for Palestinians to build [sporting] infrastructure in the West Bank are routinely rejected by Israel.”

Some protesters around the world have also called for Israel to be expelled from Fifa (Getty)

It added that smaller facilities and dirt pitches have been transformed into makeshift refugee camps, field hospitals and mass graves.

The application made to Fifa by the PFA also highlighted the atrocities that have occurred in recent months in the Gaza Strip to further back up their sanctions request.

“Since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza, at least 39,178 civilians were killed in Gaza including at least 14,622 children, while 73,300 were injured. 425 people were killed in the West Bank including 113 children. By 11 March 2024, at least 92 footballers, including 23 young juniors, were killed.

“Until 11 March, Israeli attacks have damaged or destroyed 356,900 residential units, which is 80 per cent of Gaza’s homes. Four hundred and thirty-five educational facilities, including all universities and 90 per cent of the schools, and 624 places of worship were destroyed or damaged. Ten out of 35 hospitals are only partially functioning – the rest have been destroyed.”

The PFA continued, highlighting that Unicef named a current Israeli attack on Gaza as a “war on children”.

The 74th Fifa conference will run from May 13-17 in Bangkok.

PA