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FIFA talks over Palestine’s bid to suspend Israel from international football

FIFA President Sepp Blatter will hold crisis talks in Jerusalem later in an effort to avert a Palestinian bid to have Israel suspended from international football. The Palestinian Football Association is preparing to push a motion calling for Israel’s suspension from world football’s governing body at the FIFA annual congress later this month. Mr Blatter will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem this afternoon and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Wednesday. But the head of the Palestinian FA, Jibril Rajoub, has outlined a number of complaints which he says demonstrate violations of FIFA’s standards and ethics.

any member association that is fulfilling its statutory duties should not be suspended. This would apply to the Israeli Football Association as long as they fulfil such duties.

Last week FIFA issued a statement on behalf of Mr Blatter

Mr Rajoub, a former security chief for the Palestinian Authority, says players and officials face unwarranted travel restrictions between Gaza and the West Bank, and international opponents are often blocked from entry into the Occupied Palestinian Territories without sufficient explanation. He has also condemned the inclusion of teams from Israeli settlements located in the West Bank in Israeli football’s lower leagues. The Palestinian FA insists the aim of this move is to remove the political aspects from football, but Israel dismisses such assertions, claiming the complaints contain ‘distortions’ and are an attempt to politicise sport. Israel has been a member of UEFA since 1994. The Palestinian national team competes in the Asian Football Confederation.

I don’t want to cause suffering, even to the Israeli footballers, but as long as their federation is defending, instead of fighting against the racism and restricting the Palestinian footballers’ movements, they are part of the occupation.

Head of the Palestinian FA, Jibril Rajoub, speaking to Sky News