Palestinian FA calls for Israeli ban after FIFA discrimination report

The Israel Football Association was fined by FIFA for racism and discrimination breaches following Palestinian report.

The Palestinian Football Association (PFA) on Tuesday called for the Israeli Football Association (IFA) to receive a ban after a FIFA report found “multiple breaches” of its anti-discrimination obligations.

“We maintain our right and continue our efforts to ensure that the Israeli Football Association is expelled from all international institutions,” PFA chief Jibril Rajoub, who also heads the Palestinian Olympic Committee, said during a news conference in the occupied West Bank city of el-Bireh.

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FIFA fined the IFA 150,000 Swiss francs ($190,700) for the breaches last week, “a significant decision” according to Rajoub, who said the penalty still “falls short of the minimum required”.

Rajoub cited the IFA’s “racist nature”, alleged criminal activity by some Israeli sports officials, and the inclusion of football clubs from Israeli West Bank settlements in the Israeli federation as grounds for a ban.

A recent report by the disciplinary committee of world football’s governing body found that the IFA “failed to take meaningful action against Beitar Jerusalem” for “persistent and well-documented racist behaviour”.

Rajoub, who is also secretary-general of Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas’s Fatah party’s central committee, said Tuesday that Beitar Jerusalem is “an extreme example of racism, fascism, and discrimination” but that such attitudes are commonplace in Israeli football clubs.

On the alleged criminal activity of Israeli sports officials, Rajoub said he was referring to instances of players killed during two years of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, and the destruction of many of the Palestinian territory’s sport facilities during the same war.

“Some figures within Israeli sports either participated in or openly supported what has been happening,” Rajoub said, stating that 1,007 athletes and coaches were killed in Gaza and 265 sports facilities were damaged since the war started in October 2023.

Media restrictions and limited access in Gaza have prevented AFP from independently verifying casualty figures or freely covering the fighting.

At least five football clubs based in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are members of the Israeli Football Association.

After a separate investigation, FIFA announced no action would be taken against the IFA over allegations that Israeli clubs based in the occupied West Bank were taking part in Israel’s leagues.

The UN has repeatedly condemned Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, as illegal under international law.

Israel is part of UEFA, European football’s governing body.