Football governing bodies face growing pressure to take action against Israel’s national football team due to the ongoing conflict in Gaza. Turkiye has become the first member of UEFA to call for Israel’s suspension from all competitions, with the Turkish Football Federation President Ibrahim Haciosmanoglu urging international football leaders to take action.
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Haciosmanoglu stated that the football institutions have remained silent for too long and emphasized the need for FIFA and UEFA to act. The Turkish president expressed deep concern over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza caused by the Israeli forces.
UEFA is considering a vote to suspend Israel’s men’s football team, which is currently attempting to qualify for the World Cup. The ruling committee is expected to secure a majority in favor of excluding Israel from games.
There is also growing unease regarding the perceived double standard of treating Israel differently from Russia, whose national team was banned by both UEFA and FIFA following the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
On Friday, a coalition of 48 high-profile professional athletes, including Paul Pogba and Moeen Ali, called on UEFA to suspend Israel from all football competitions over its assault on Palestinians in Gaza. The statement highlighted the principles of justice, fairness, and humanity and called for Israel to be suspended until it complies with international law.
The statement also mentioned the recent death of Sulaiman al-Obeid, a Palestinian footballer who was killed during an Israeli attack on civilians waiting for humanitarian aid in southern Gaza.
Israel has been a UEFA member since 1994 and has only qualified for one men’s World Cup, which was in 1970.
Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/27/turkiye-group-of-athletes-call-on-fifa-uefa-to-ban-israels-football-team?traffic_source=rss
