Calls for a suspension have intensified after a UN commission of inquiry accused Middle Eastern nation of committing genocide in Gaza
Uefa is facing growing calls to suspend Israel from its competitions, with its executive committee expected to discuss the issue in the coming weeks amid rising political and sporting pressure over the war in Gaza.
The prospect of a vote on Israel’s participation in European football comes three years after Uefa and Fifa banned Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.
Sources inside several national federations told The Guardian that while no vote has yet been scheduled, momentum is building for Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin and his colleagues to act.
Suspension would prevent Israel’s national team from continuing its World Cup qualifying campaign and block its clubs, including Maccabi Tel Aviv, from European competitions. Maccabi Tel Aviv are currently playing in the Europa League.
The Israel national team are due to play Norway and Italy in October, and those federations have already signalled unease about fulfilling the fixtures.
Norway’s FA has pledged to donate proceeds from its home qualifier to humanitarian efforts in Gaza, while Italy’s football president Gabriele Gravina said this week that “nobody can be indifferent to the suffering and pain” caused by the conflict.
Calls for a ban have intensified after a UN commission of inquiry accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. Political leaders, including Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sanchez, have argued Israel should be treated in the same way as Russia, which was sidelined in 2022. Campaign groups have also mobilised, with the group Game Over Israel staging a billboard protest in New York’s Times Square.
The political fallout could be significant. The United States, which will co-host next summer’s World Cup alongside Canada and Mexico, has warned against any suspension. A State Department spokesperson said that the US government would “absolutely work to stop any effort to ban Israel’s national soccer team”.
Meanwhile, Fifa has yet to make its position clear, but president Gianni Infantino has strong ties with Washington and US President Donald Trump.
