The FIFA Insists that Israel won't be Expelled

Issam Khalidi

 

  As Inside Word Football reported, the FIFA Council, the organization's top decision-making body, held its penultimate meeting on Thursday October 2nd, but didn't talk about either Israel's potential ban or settlement clubs in the West Bank, which were first raised by the Palestinian FA (PFA) in 2013.

 

   Instead, Infantino and his Council offered a message of peace. Infantino said: “At FIFA, we are committed to using the power of football to bring people together in a divided world. Our thoughts are with those who are suffering in the many conflicts that exist around the world today, and the most important message that football can convey right now is one of peace and unity.”

 

“FIFA cannot solve geopolitical problems, but it can and must promote football around the world by harnessing its unifying, educational, cultural and humanitarian values.”

 

  After the meeting, Infantino posed for a photo with PFA president Jibril Rajoub (pictured left). Reducing the occasion to another photo op, he wrote on Instagram: “I commend President Rajoub and the PFA for their resilience at this time and I reiterated to him FIFA’s commitment to using the power of football to bring people together in a divided world.”

 

   The PFA has repeatedly sought to suspend Israel, including at last year’s FIFA Congress in Bangkok, Thailand. FIFA president Gianni Infantino ordered an “independent legal analysis” of Palestine’s complaint, which was passed to the disciplinary and governance committees last October. 

   A few questions come to mind here; the first one is why did FIFA immediately sanction Russia four days after the Ukraine invasion? Secondly, why did FIFA not condemn, even with a single word, the killing of athletes and the complete destruction of infrastructure in the Gaza Strip? The third question would be, if FIFA is truly a democratic institution, why is it afraid to vote to expel Israel from its organization? As a fourth question, we are curious to know the secret behind the FIFA president's sycophantic ties to President Trump, who has warned against expelling Israel from FIFA and preventing Israel from participating in the 2026 World Cup, and boasts that he has been the most supportive of Israel as president in the history of the United States.

 

   Essentially, what we see here is nothing but hypocrisy and double standard, a lack of regard for the principles firmly underlying this governing body of football - FIFA, and a departure from all the principles upon which it was founded. It has become impossible for us to ignore the fact that the hypocrisy, the procrastination, the delays, the arguments, and excuses offered by FIFA and its president, have overwhelmed us with anger and disgust. In addition to this, we are dissatisfied with the rhetoric that the FIFA president used in an attempt to appeal to the world, and the media, regarding his "sympathies" to those who suffer as a result of the many conflicts that exist around the world today. His speech does not make a single mention of Gaza or genocide.

 As FIFA's president, Infantino believes that his existence is linked to flattery and currying favor with American president Donald Trump. Not only is the fault placed on him, but it is also placed on the FIFA Council, which has no concern for anything other than its own self-interest and subordinating itself to Infantino's whims in any way it can. In addition to that, it blamed FIFA's Arab members as well as other members for not exerting enough pressure on FIFA's president in order to remove Israel from the organization as well. 

  I find it strange that Infantino seems to have adopted the same approach to power that Trump has adapted to his presidency. This includes issuing reports that contradict democratic principles and finding excuses devoid of honor and integrity.

 

   How can football convey a message of peace and unity in a world where the entire sports infrastructure has been destroyed and hundreds of athletes and players have been killed, most recently Suleiman al-Obeid, the “Pele of Palestine”? It is unclear what kind of peace Infantino is referring to when his words contradict the position he put forward in his previous statements. It has been previously stated by him that football is a means of combating racial discrimination, violence, and riots, as well as a means of establishing human rights, equality, and justice in the world. 

   Certainly, the appropriate way to express compassion for those affected by the genocide (or those affected by the many conflicts around the world - as Infantino describes it) is to impose sanctions and punish Israel for its actions and crimes.

   In an ironic turn of events, on one hand, FIFA has paid attention to the workers' conditions and to the state of Qatar's sports facilities ahead of the 2022 World Cup. It criticized the United States decision in 2017 to impose a travel ban on several Muslim-majority countries, and expressed "humanitarian sympathy" towards Ukraine, its "civilized", blue-eyed neighbor. On the other hand, FIFA never contacted the administrations of the destroyed clubs in Gaza as of today. It has not released any statements condemning the destruction of the sports infrastructure and the killing of Palestinian athletes. 

   In its latest decision, FIFA rejected the idea of banning settlements from taking part in Israeli football league. Thus, this rejection violates international and UN law, as well as FIFA's rules and regulations. Andreas Zimmermann, professor of international law at the University of Potsdam, Germany, points out that the jurisprudence of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (‘CAS’), and FIFA’s own practice, establish that territory under FIFA Statutes is defined by reference to international law. Accordingly, Israeli settlement clubs playing on occupied Palestinian territory without PFA’s consent violate Art. 72, para. 2 FIFA Statutes. Furthermore, FIFA’s tolerance of settlement clubs implicitly recognizes Israeli settlements, and thus violates FIFA’s duty to respect the Palestinians’ right to self-determination under Art. 3 FIFA Statutes.

   In many ways, FIFA's stance resembles that of the West in general which calls for justice and democracy but ignores them in its dealings with Israel.