UEFA and FIFA face calls to ban Israel from international competition
UEFA is understood to be holding a meeting on the subject next week, with a growing number of European football associations opposing Israel's continued presence
The United States has reportedly made it clear that it will block any attempt to try and ban Israel from competing at the 2026 football world cup, after reports that both UEFA and FIFA are considering banning Israel from international competition.
A growing coalition of nations is understood to be agitating against Israel’s continued participation in global football, with a number of individual European football associations believed to support a move to prevent Israeli teams competing at club level. Qatar, which has invested heavily in UEFA in recent years via sponsorship deals, is also believed to be attempting to exert pressure on the organisation to ban Israeli clubs from playing. A meeting on the subject of Israel’s continued participation in European football is understood to have been scheduled for next week, with a number of FAs believed to be pushing for Israel to be treated in the same way as Russia, whose teams have been banned from European competition since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Qatar has also significantly invested in FIFA – the world’s footballing federation – hosting the 2022 world cup, but next year’s global football event is due to take place in the United States, Mexico and Canada. A spokesperson for the US State Department told BBC Sport that “we will absolutely work to fully stop any effort to attempt to ban Israel’s national soccer team from the World Cup.”
International football federations tend to avoid blanket bans on countries, due to the wide array of human rights violations carried out by many member states. However, UEFA’s decision to exhibit a “stop killing children – stop killing civilians” banner on the pitch ahead of the Super Cup final between Tottenham and Paris Saint Germain in August – the latter team is owned by Qatar – was condemned – both by Jewish groups and by anti-Israel activists who felt the organisation should have condemned Israel by name.
Israel is due to play both Norway and Italy in World Cup qualifying matches in October. Both the Norwegian and Italian FAs have publicly expressed their discomfort at having to play the matches.
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