UEFA moves towards vote to suspend Israel

GENEVA, Switzerland:

European soccer body UEFA is moving towards a vote to suspend its member federation Israel over the war in Gaza, people familiar with the proposal told The Associated Press on Thursday.

A majority of UEFA's 20-member executive committee is expected to support any vote in favour of suspending Israeli teams from international play, two sources told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

Such a step would prevent Israeli national and club teams from playing in international competitions, including next year's World Cup. Israel's men's team is set to resume its World Cup qualifying campaign in two weeks with away games against Norway and Italy.

It is unclear whether world soccer body FIFA will support excluding Israel, given the close relations between FIFA's leader, Gianni Infantino, and President Donald Trump.

The Trump administration's support to secure the World Cup, and process visas for players, officials and potentially hundreds of thousands of visiting fans, is seen as key to FIFA delivering a successful tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico next year.

A State Department spokesperson said it will work to stop any efforts that tried to ban Israel's team from the World Cup.

FIFA's ruling council is scheduled to meet in Zurich next week. The 37-member council includes eight from UEFA.

FIFA declined to comment on Thursday. Infantino is based this week at FIFA's satellite office in Trump Tower in Manhattan while attending events on the fringes of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly.

Calls to exclude Israel from soccer and other sports have increased in recent weeks amid an outcry over the humanitarian toll of its military campaign in Gaza.

Last week, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Israel should be banned from international sports events just like Russia, which was sidelined after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Earlier this week, seven independent experts working with the UN Human Rights Council urged FIFA and UEFA to suspend Israel from international competitions.

UEFA and its president, Aleksander Ceferin, signalled a tougher view on Israel last month when banners saying "Stop Killing Children, Stop Killing Civilians" were placed on the field in front of the Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham teams ahead of the Super Cup game in Udine, Italy.

The discussion about whether to ban Israel from international sports comes as Israel faces increasing criticism and isolation over its military campaign, launched in response to the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023.

Last week, Israel was accused of committing genocide in Gaza by an inquiry commission commissioned by the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Israel's Sports and Culture Minister Miki Zohar, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the head of Israel's soccer federation, Moshe Zuares, have been working "intensively behind the scenes" to block efforts to oust Israel from UEFA, Zohar's office said on Thursday.

- AP