After two years of suspense, FIFA has finally ruled on two Palestinian requests and decided to sanction Israel for violating its anti-discrimination rules, while closing the case of Israeli football clubs in the occupied West Bank. The world body, however, did not suspend the Israeli Football Federation (IFA), as the Palestinian Federation (PFA) has been asking it to do since 2024, urging it to respect its statutes and “stand on the right side of history”.
But the disciplinary committee imposed a fine of 150,000 Swiss francs (165,000 euros) on the IFA for “serious and repeated violations” of its obligations to combat discrimination. Over 40 pages, his decision lists a cascade of racist behavior in Israeli football, ranging from slogans exalting racial purity in the stands of Beitar Jerusalem to insults towards Arab players, including “political and militaristic messages” from leaders of the professional leagues and Maccabi Netanya on their social networks.
Regarding the sharing of an article hostile to any ceasefire in Gaza, the disciplinary committee considers that “the absence of any mitigating language – such as calls for restraint, concern for civilian victims or recognition of humanitarian principles – makes this publication not only politically charged, but also ethically problematic”.
“A step in the right direction”
To condemn the IFA, Fifa considers the fines it imposed on Beitar insufficient and too vague, without explicitly linking them to racist incidents. She also observes that the body has “made no public statement condemning racism, has not launched any campaign to combat discrimination and has not taken any action aimed at promoting the inclusion of Arab or Palestinian players”.
In detail, the Israeli federation will have to pay two thirds of the fine “within 30 days”, and invest the rest “in the implementation of a general plan aimed at “preventing the recurrence of incidents of this type”. It will also have to deploy, during its next three international matches at home, “a banner of a significant size and very visible bearing the words “Football Unites the World – No to Discrimination””, adds the body.
“If this constitutes a step in the right direction,” the Palestinian body said overnight on its Facebook account, “the conclusions do not fully respond to the scale and seriousness of the violations raised” by its request, which went as far as “incitement to genocide”.
“Illegal presence” in the West Bank but no sanction
At the same time, the PFA deplored the other decision taken on Thursday by a separate body of Fifa – its governance, audit and compliance committee – to adopt “no measures” concerning Israeli clubs established in illegal settlements in the West Bank.
“Fifa should not take any action given that (…) the final legal status of the West Bank remains an unresolved and extremely complex question in public international law,” justified the organization, which intends to “continue to promote dialogue and offer mediation” between IFA and PFA.
In October 2024, several United Nations experts – mandated by the Human Rights Council but who do not speak on behalf of the UN – urged Fifa to “respect international law” on this specific point. According to these experts, “at least eight football clubs have developed or been identified as playing in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.”
In addition, these “Israeli clubs, many of which have shown racism towards the Palestinian people and players over the years, are integrated into the IFA”, they underlined, specifying that a ninth club, based in Israel, plays some of its home matches in a colony. “Such integration and such conduct within the IFA amounts to recognizing as legal the situation resulting from the illegal presence of Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory,” these experts denounced.
Leave a Reply