Issam
Khalidi
Sport
has never been isolated from social, economic or political aspects. Certainly,
the existence of sport outside the political arena is rare, and in many cases,
we see the overlap between sport and politics so that it is impossible to
separate each other, especially in situations such as Palestine. Today we see the Israel
Football Association and the International
Federation of Football (FIFA) are calling to keep politics out of football, the
former is
seeking to justify its arbitrary behavior against Palestinians and Palestinian sports, while the
latter wants to justify his apparent bias to the Israeli lobby about the participation of Israeli settlement teams in the
Israeli Football Federation. This was confirmed at the meeting of the FIFA in
Kolkata, India, on October 27, 2017, when it announced that it must remain neutral
on political matters; that it refrains from imposing any sanctions or other
measures against the Israeli or Palestinian Football Federation.
In
its Congress in Bahrain in May 2017 FIFA removed from the meeting agenda a
resolution that would have urged Israel's football federation to stop
sponsoring clubs based in settlements in the illegally occupied West Bank.
Though FIFA guidelines ban national associations from registering teams on
other associations’ territories. This came after Israel's prime
minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, warned the FIFA president Gianni
Infantino in a phone call on May 7th 2017 that the Palestinian
resolution could "ruin FIFA", Haaretz reported. "The Palestinian
conflict is long term and FIFA isn't going to solve it," Netanyahu told
the FIFA president, according to the Israeli newspaper.
To be impartial in issues related to the
clubs of the settlements, FIFA has confirmed and insisted on standing by the
occupation. It is clear that FIFA, which runs the affairs of football around
the world, and its president are
under the influence of the Zionist lobby. This institution does not stand on a
strong moral basis to make it qualified to win the respect of many in the world.
Certainly, if this institution applies and practices the values and
principles it had set for itself since its founding, it would not
have taken such a position.
FIFA is not independent in making its
decisions. It is violating its own laws that stipulate clubs are not
allowed to play in another country’s territory without the latter’s permission.
Moreover, it refused to listen to the United Nations that
such settlements were illegal in accordance with United Nations resolutions.
Surprisingly, FIFA
and the European Football Federation (UEFA) banned clubs in the Crimea from
participating in the Russian league after the president of the Ukrainian
Football Association (FFA) asked FIFA to punish the Russian Football
Federation. It is clear that FIFA is imposing its laws on Russia, and refuses
to impose them to Israel, claiming that resolving the Palestinian-Israeli
conflict is beyond its ability; that any interference by FIFA in the status quo
of football in the relevant ‘territories’ without the consent of the parties
concerned might aggravate the situation of football not only in the territories
in question, but also in the greater region affected – which would not be in
the best interests of the game. At the same time, FIFA
is fully aware that Israeli settlements on the occupied territories are
considered illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.
‘Sport has nothing
to do with politics’, this argument has always been echoed by the Zionists
since the time of the Mandate, and they are still repeating it to this day. In
fact, they were and still linking politics to sports if this serves their
interests, and against it if it poses a danger to them. During the mandate the
Zionists used sports to achieve their political goals by dominating the sports
movement in Palestine, marginalizing the Arabs and representing Palestine
regionally and internationally so it could look ‘Jewish’. In the 1960s, Israel
stood in front of the admission of the Palestine Football Associated
(established in 1962) in Gaza Strip to the International Football Association
FIFA, and stood in front of the entry of other Palestinian federations in the
international federations under the pretext that the Gaza Strip, which was
under the Egyptian administration had no legal status as a state. This was
repeated again in the 1970s and 1980s, when Palestine tried to be
admitted to FIFA.
Today, Israel accuses
Palestinians of mixing sports and politics when Palestinians demand that
Israeli settlement clubs not to participate in the Israeli league, calling that
the Israeli Football Federation be dismissed from FIFA because of Israel's
arbitrary practices against Palestinian sports.
In fact, the problem is not about
politics and sport, but in using politics as a method of deceit, especially
when deception has become part of the Zionist mentality; a habit
and practices followed by successive Israeli
leaders. Moshe Sharett, Israel’s
first Foreign Minister and later a Prime Minister once said “I have learned
that the state of Israel cannot be ruled in our generation without deceit and
adventurism.”
