FIFA, football’s world governing body, intends to launch an investigation against israel The Football Association (IFA) announced on Thursday the allegations made by the Palestinian Football Association (PFA).
FIFA’s disciplinary committee will be asked to investigate allegations of discrimination like the PFA IFA accused Complicity by the Israeli government in violations of international law, discriminating against Arab players and including clubs based in Palestinian territory in its league.
“The FIFA Disciplinary Committee will be mandated to open an investigation into the alleged crime of discrimination raised by the Palestine Football Association,” FIFA said in a statement. statement“FIFA’s Governance, Audit and Compliance Committee will reportedly be tasked with the mission of investigating the participation in Israeli competitions of Israeli football teams based in the territory of Palestine.”
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Palestinian flags are seen during the men’s Group D match between Mali and Israel at the Olympic Games in Paris on July 24, 2024. (Mustafa Yalcin/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Fox News has contacted the PFA and IFA for comment.
The PFA had previously proposed a suspension for Israel over the war in Gaza. According to FIFA documents released this year, the PFA’s proposal to the 211 member federations called for “the imposition of appropriate sanctions against Israeli teams with immediate effect.”
The resolution cited “violations of international law committed by the Israeli occupation of Palestine, particularly Gaza” and cited FIFA statutory commitments on human rights and against discrimination.
“All football infrastructure in Gaza has been either destroyed, or seriously damaged, including the historic stadium of al-Yarmuk,” the PFA wrote. Wrote, it said that it has the support of this proposal from the federations of Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Syria and other countries. Yemen.
The PFA’s proposal was enough to convince FIFA to demand an independent legal council and hold a historic council meeting to decide whether to suspend Israel from international football due to the conflict with Hamas, FIFA said. President Gianni Infantino said at the FIFA Congress in May.
“FIFA will now mandate independent legal expertise to (analyze) the Palestinian FA’s three requests and ensure that FIFA’s rules are correctly applied,” Infantino said. “Due to the urgency of the situation, an extraordinary FIFA Council will be convened and convened no later than July 20 to review the results of the legal assessment and take appropriate decisions.”
FIFA said Thursday it would not suspend Israel but that the alleged discrimination would be investigated.
The most recent and prominent example of a country banning its athletes from major international sporting events was Russia at the Paris Olympics this summer.
Israeli women’s basketball teams leave the game after Iranian missile attack
Hundreds of Harvard graduates walked out of the 2024 commencement to draw attention to the plight of Palestinians. (Craig F. Walker/Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Russia was sanctioned because it invaded Ukraine just four days after the end of the 2022 Winter Olympics. The International Olympic Committee considered the attack a violation of the Olympic ceasefire, a resolution calling on all nations to lay down their arms and not engage in conflict starting one week before the Olympics and ending one week after the end of the season. Invokes. Russian Olympic Committee lost its appeal against its suspension by the International Olympic Committee in February.
Belarus, which was used as a staging ground for the invasion, was also not allowed to compete in Paris.
However, a total of 32 athletes from Russia and Belarus competed in Paris as neutral participants; 17 previously represented Belarus and 15 represented Russia. They were not allowed to fly their country’s flag, but were able to attend the closing ceremony.
Countries have also been banned from competing in the World Cup in the past, but players from those countries were never allowed to compete as neutrals.
Germany and Japan were banned from the 1950 World Cup after the end of World War II. South Africa were banned from 1966 to 1992 for violating FIFA’s anti-discrimination charter due to apartheid. Mexico were also given a two-year ban after using overage players in qualifiers for the 1989 World Youth Championship.
FIFA’s announcement comes the same week that Iran launched a massive missile attack against Israeli cities.
Iran’s attacks on Israel forced nearly 10 million people to seek safety in bomb shelters on Tuesday.
This was the first time in Israel’s history that the air war took place when the country’s densely populated cities – Tel Aviv And Jerusalem – the center of the Biblical nation, faced such potentially devastating attacks. According to the Associated Press, the Israeli military said most of the missiles were intercepted.
Iran also warned that a retaliatory strike could require a further ballistic response.
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Rockets fired from Iran are seen over Jerusalem from Hebron, West Bank, on October 1, 2024. (Wissam Hashlamoun/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian Israel should not believe it can act with “impunity,” he said during the Asia Cooperation Dialogue summit this week, according to Reuters.
“Any kind of military attack, terrorist act or crossing of our red lines will be met with a decisive response by our armed forces,” Pezeshkian said.
This Monday marks the one-year anniversary of the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas terrorists. The conflict between Israel and countries around the region has since created widespread tensions across the United States over concerns of a humanitarian crisis.
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