Fifa has said it will undertake further investigations into the possibility of “discrimination” by Israeli football authorities, the governing body has confirmed, following claims made by the Palestinian FA (PFA) earlier this year.
Two new investigations were announced at a meeting of the Fifa council in Zurich on Thursday. The first, according to Fifa, will cover “the alleged offence of discrimination raised by the Palestine Football Association”, while the second relates to a specific claim by the PFA that clubs based in illegal settlements on occupied territory have been allowed to take part in competitions licensed by the Israeli FA. Fifa’s decision comes after the claims were first analysed by independent legal advice.
“The Fifa council has implemented due diligence on this very sensitive matter and, based on a thorough assessment, we have followed the advice of the independent experts,” said the Fifa president, Gianni Infantino. “The ongoing violence in the region confirms that, above all considerations … we need peace. We urge all parties to restore peace to the region with immediate effect.”
The original Palestinian submission was presented in May to the Fifa congress in Bangkok. It called for “immediate and appropriate sanctions against Israeli teams, including national teams and clubs, in response to the unprecedented violations of human rights and international humanitarian law committed by the Israeli occupation in Palestine, especially in Gaza”. The submission also referred to the “violations of regulations” related to Israeli teams in Palestinian territory.
Following congress, Infantino commissioned a legal review. “Football should not and should never become a hostage for politics and always remain a vector for peace,” he said at the time. “This legal assessment will have to allow for inputs and claims of both member associations.” The assessment was first set to be discussed in August, but was postponed, with an extraordinary meeting of the congress being convened for this week.
There is no fixed date for the investigations to be concluded, and the council will then take advice before acting on the outcomes. Campaigners who have been pushing for Fifa to sanction Israel’s football authorities said the council’s decision was “kicking the can down the road”.
“It’s a predictably pathetic and spineless response from Fifa,” said Nick McGeehan, the director of the human rights organisation FairSquare. “The evidence is very clear that the Israeli FA is in violation of Fifa statutes and there are multiple grounds for its suspension.
“Fifa has been aware of IFA violations since 2015 and has kicked the can down the road at every turn, which is what it is doing here. For Infantino to dress up Fifa’s inaction as a form of peacemaking is another reflection of how poorly governed the organisation is.”
