CrossFireArabia
The refusal of international and continental sports federations to suspend Israel’s membership, 22 months after its perpetration of genocide in the Gaza Strip, constitutes a blatant violation of the values and principles they claim to uphold. It reflects a selective, double-standard application of the rules governing the participation of states, clubs, and individuals in international and continental competitions, whether official or friendly.
The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), the International Olympic Committee, and other international federations continue to refrain from acting against Israel, despite its killing of 664 Palestinian athletes since the start of the genocide in the Gaza Strip in October 2023 and its violations of regulations and standards on human rights, peace, and non-discrimination.
Since the start of its genocide, Israel has targeted all aspects of life in the Gaza Strip, including the sports sector. According to the Palestinian Football Association, the Israeli army has destroyed 264 sports facilities, 184 completely and 81 partially.
Sports activities in the Gaza Strip have been completely suspended since October 2023 due to the widespread and systematic targeting of sports infrastructure, which has been almost entirely destroyed.
Athletes have been killed or, like most of Gaza’s population, forced to devote their time and effort to finding shelter and food, amid ongoing Israeli military attacks, repeated displacement, and starvation and blockade policies that have left the entire population food insecure and claimed the lives of approximately 220 people to date.
In July alone, the Israeli army killed 40 athletes and scouts, the vast majority in the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestine Olympic Committee.
The global influence of football associations, particularly FIFA and UEFA, places a double responsibility on them to uphold human rights principles and exclude national associations whose member states are implicated in serious crimes. It is unjustifiable for the Israeli national team to continue participating in FIFA tournaments, or for Israeli clubs to compete in UEFA tournaments, while Israel kills nearly one Palestinian athlete every day.
The continued disregard by international and continental sports federations for their own regulations, and their failure to take disciplinary action against Israel, constitutes a breach of their ethical and institutional obligations and exposes them to accountability, particularly if Israel exploits its international sporting participation to whitewash human rights violations and promote its sporting activities as a cover for atrocities committed by its army against Palestinian civilians.
The normalisation by sports federations of the participation of representatives of a state committing genocide is not only a legal violation but also an unprecedented moral failure. Allowing Israeli athletes to perform before audiences of hundreds of millions misleads the public and enables Israel to use sporting events as a powerful tool to influence global opinion.
In many cases, Israeli athletes themselves are implicated in grave violations against Palestinian civilians, with consistent estimates indicating that about 30 members of the Israeli delegation to the 2024 Paris Olympics served in the Israeli military or publicly supported the genocide in the Gaza Strip.
Although there is no official data on Israeli athletes who served in the army, Israel’s policy of compulsory conscription makes it reasonable to believe that most people of active athletic age served as reserve soldiers and may have participated in crimes committed during the genocide in the Gaza Strip, particularly given the army’s extensive and long-standing reliance on reserve forces to destroy civilians and infrastructure in the enclave.
FIFA’s regulations provide clear grounds to punish Israel. Article 3 of the FIFA Statutes states that “FIFA is committed to respecting all internationally recognised human rights and shall strive to promote the protection of these rights.” Article 16 also empowers the FIFA Council, “without a vote of the Congress, [to] temporarily suspend with immediate effect a member association that seriously violates its obligations.”
Similarly, Article 11 of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations states that “all entities and persons subject to these regulations must respect the Laws of the Game, as well as UEFA’s Statutes, regulations, directives and decisions, and comply with the principles of ethical conduct, loyalty, integrity and sportsmanship.” Article 14 provides that “any entity or person subject to these regulations who insults the human dignity of a person or group of persons on whatever grounds, including skin colour, race, religion, ethnic origin, gender or sexual orientation, incurs a suspension lasting at least ten matches or a specified period of time, or any other appropriate sanction.”
On this basis, Israel could be punished and its clubs banned from European competitions for violating the principles of non-discrimination and integrity, engaging in conduct that conflicts with UEFA values, particularly by including clubs from illegal Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory in its league, and for the racist and discriminatory behaviour of some Israeli players.
As for the International Olympic Committee, Principle 1 of the Fundamental Principles of Olympism in the Olympic Charter states that “Olympism seeks to create a way of life based on the joy of effort, […] and respect for internationally recognised human rights.” Article 1 of the Fundamental Principles of the Olympic Code of Ethics also stipulates “respect for human dignity.” Accordingly, the Committee can punish Israel by suspending its membership for violating these and other principles.
It is unacceptable for the administrations of international and continental sports federations to submit to political pressure or favouritism, or to apply double standards in addressing human rights violations.
FIFA swiftly suspended Russia and its football clubs from official activities following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, with UEFA following suit by banning Russian teams from European championships and prohibiting matches on Russian soil. The International Olympic Committee also acted, citing allegations of human rights violations, aggression against the sovereignty of an independent state, and the destruction of civilian infrastructure.
International and continental sports federations must take a decisive and immediate stance by suspending Israel’s membership in all sporting activities, banning events on its territory, ending its treatment as a state above the law, and imposing all disciplinary measures for the genocide it is committing in the Gaza Strip. They must also prevent Israel from using sport to whitewash gross human rights violations and normalise its illegal actions internationally.
The Israeli Football Association must be compelled to remove settlement clubs in the occupied Palestinian territory from its domestic competitions, in line with the rules of territorial jurisdiction and the non-recognition of illegal annexation.
Euro-Med Monitor calls on international and continental sports federations to form independent committees to document the destruction of sports infrastructure and the killing of Palestinian athletes, press Israel to rebuild the destroyed facilities, compensate affected athletes, and provide emergency support to Palestinian federations to ensure their continued operation through temporary headquarters, secure equipment and records, and rehabilitation programmes.
