Irish FA Pushes for UEFA to Expel Israel from European Football
The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) approved a resolution to submit a formal motion to UEFA urging it to ban Israel from European club and international competitions.
The governing body’s resolution – proposed by the Dublin club Bohemians – cited violations by the Israel Football Association (IFA) of two provisions of UEFA statutes. They are its failure to implement and enforce an effective anti-racism policy and the organization of clubs in occupied Palestinian territories without the consent of the Palestinian FA.
The resolution was backed by 74 votes, with seven opposed and two abstentions, the FAI said in a statement. UEFA has yet to comment on the vote.
UEFA paused plans to ban Israel from European football at the end of September after the announcement of US President Donald Trump’s proposed peace plan for the region. UEFA never officially confirmed that it was considering an extraordinary meeting of its executive committee to vote on the issue, but plans on the proposal were understood to be well developed, with any meeting expected to have been called at short notice.
RTÉ, Ireland’s national broadcaster, reported that the FAI statement said: “In an extraordinary general meeting of the Football Association of Ireland, an ordinary resolution was posed to members of the FAI General Assembly. It passed by a majority – 74 in favor, seven against, two abstained.”
RTÉ added that the FAI said it intended to “submit a formal motion to the UEFA executive committee requesting the immediate suspension of the Israel Football Association from UEFA competitions due to its violating two independent provisions of the UEFA statutes”
It went on to list them as the “organization of clubs in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank without the consent of the Palestinian Football Association, in breach of FUFA statutes (Article 73) and UEFA statutes (Article 5)” and “the failure of the IFA to implement and enforce an effective anti-racism policy, in breach of UEFA statutes (Article 7bis)“.
The Irish resolution follows calls in September from the heads of the Turkish and Norwegian governing bodies for Israel to be suspended from international competition.
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Those requests came after United Nations experts appealed to FIFA and UEFA to suspend Israel from international football, citing a UN commission of inquiry report that said the Israeli regime had committed genocide during the war in Gaza.
If UEFA decided to ban Israel, it would put the organization on a collision course with the government of the United States – co-hosts for the 2026 World Cup – which strongly opposes such an action. Even though Europe’s governing body has the power to suspend Israel or its clubs from the region’s competitions, it may not be able to stop them from competing in World Cup qualifiers, which is overseen by FIFA.
Source: The Guardian
