UEFA heading to a vote next week on booting Israel from European soccer

The European soccer governing body is set to decide in a vote next week on suspending Israel from the organization, people familiar with the proposal told The Associated Press on Thursday.

The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), of which Israel is a member, has already held high-level discussions this week over banning Israel over the war in the Gaza Strip, which was triggered by the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel.

A majority of UEFA’s 20-member executive committee is expected to support any vote in favor of suspending Israeli teams from international play, two sources told AP on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

Executive members in favor of the suspension are said to point to the ban in place against Russia since it invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Such a step would prevent Israeli national and club teams from playing in international competitions, including next year’s World Cup. Israel’s men’s team is set to resume its World Cup qualifying campaign in two weeks with away games against Norway and Italy.

Earlier this week, the United Nations Human Rights Office said a panel of UN experts had urged UEFA and its global counterpart FIFA “to suspend Israel as a country team from international football, as a necessary response to address the ongoing genocide in the occupied Palestinian territory.”

“We are clear that the boycott must be addressed to the State of Israel and not to individual players,” the statement said. “We have always maintained that individuals cannot bear the consequences of the decisions their government makes. National teams representing states that commit massive human rights violations can and should be suspended, as has happened in the past.”

A UN investigative panel report last week accused Israel of genocide in the Gaza Strip, where the Israel Defense Forces is battling against Hamas.

Israel rejected the finding as “distorted and false,” with Jerusalem noting its authors’ history of vehemently anti-Israeli positions.

Over the weekend, Hebrew media reports said that Israeli officials were working to prevent a vote on suspending the country from UEFA.

On Thursday, Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar said that he was working with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the chair of the Israel Football Association, Moshe Zuares, to prevent the move.

He cautioned, however, that the “correct step” ahead of the expected vote is to “act responsibly toward the professional bodies and not make statements” before any decision has been made.

Israel Hayom and Channel 12 reported that Qatar, one of the biggest donors to UEFA, was pushing for such a vote to be held.

Israel Hayom said the Qatari pressure campaign began following the Israeli strike on Hamas leaders in Doha earlier this month, which appears to have failed to kill the terror chiefs, while halting Qatar-mediated talks on a ceasefire in Gaza.

It is unclear whether the world soccer body FIFA will support excluding Israel, given the close relations between FIFA’s leader, Gianni Infantino, and US President Donald Trump.

The Trump administration’s support to secure the World Cup, and process visas for players, officials and potentially hundreds of thousands of visiting fans, is seen as key to FIFA delivering a successful tournament in the US, Canada and Mexico next year.

A State Department spokesperson said it would work to stop any efforts that tried to ban Israel’s team from the World Cup.

FIFA’s ruling council is scheduled to meet in Zurich next week. The 37-member council includes eight from UEFA.

The UN itself has not labeled the situation in Gaza a genocide, although the body’s aid chief urged world leaders in May to “act decisively to prevent genocide,” while its human rights chief last week denounced Israel’s “genocidal rhetoric.”

Last month, the UK’s Times newspaper reported that several European clubs had asked UEFA if they could avoid playing Israeli teams.

UEFA has already made clear its criticism of Israel regarding the war. At the Super Cup game in Italy, it displayed a banner reading “Stop killing children – Stop killing civilians” across the pitch, a statement understood to be condemning Israel.

The Palestinian Football Association has, for two years, been urging FIFA to ban Israel, but a vote has never been taken.

The Israeli national team’s next World Cup qualification match is set for October 11 against Norway in Oslo. A suspension would mean that Israel can’t play the game.

The war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught in Israel, in which terrorists murdered some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostages.

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 64,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed over 22,000 combatants in battle as of August and another 1,600 terrorists inside Israel during the October 7 onslaught.

Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.

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