During the 74th FIFA Congress on May 17 in Bangkok, the Israel Football Federation (PFA) is expected to demand sanctions against Israeli teams. She deplores the “serious human rights violations committed by Israel”.
The PFA made its request to Fifa in a letter sent to the international body in mid-March. It promises a debate, within a major sports organization, on the consequences of the war in the Gaza Strip. This broke out on October 7, after a Hamas attack in southern Israel.
More than 33,000 deaths in six months
Since then, the military offensive launched by Israel has left 33,970 dead in the space of six months. Most of them are civilians, according to the Palestinian movement's health ministry.
Until now the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has stayed away from the conflict. It sticks to the coexistence of the Palestinian and Israeli National Committees since 1995.
The PFA denounces to Fifa the consequences of the war, during which 92 footballers were killed on its territory. She also criticizes the lack of fight against anti-Palestinian discrimination and racism in football.
She details her point of view in her letter: “Only in Israeli football can a club refuse Arab players and extreme violence is considered a simple disciplinary offense. » The PFA is supported by the Algerian, Iraqi, Jordanian, Syrian and Yemeni federations, but not the Qatari and Saudi Arabian federations.