Sports
FIFA Delays Decision On Israel Suspension, Initiates Disciplinary Probe
In May, during FIFA’s congress in Bangkok, the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) requested that Israel’s football teams be banned from FIFA events and called for the suspension of Israel’s Football Association.
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FIFA initially planned to convene an extraordinary session by July 20 to review an independent legal analysis and decide on the matter, but the deadline was extended to allow more time for the report’s completion.
At Thursday’s meeting at FIFA’s Zurich headquarters, the council adopted the recommendations and findings from the legal review. The council then tasked FIFA’s disciplinary committee with investigating the allegations of discrimination raised by the PFA.
Meanwhile, the FIFA governance, audit, and compliance committee “will be entrusted with the mission to investigate—and subsequently advise the FIFA Council on—the participation in Israeli competitions of Israeli football teams allegedly based in the territory of Palestine.”
FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in a Thursday statement: “The FIFA Council has implemented due diligence on this very sensitive matter and, based on a thorough assessment, we have followed the advice of the independent experts.
“The ongoing violence in the region confirms that, above all considerations… we need peace.
“As we remain extremely shocked by what is happening, and our thoughts are with those who are suffering, we urge all parties to restore peace to the region with immediate effect.”
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In March 2022, Russia was expelled from the World Cup and its teams suspended from all international football competitions “until further notice” following its invasion of Ukraine, FIFA and UEFA announced in a joint statement.
The ban remains in effect, preventing Russia from participating in Euro 2024 in Germany and the 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympics.
None of its football clubs are involved in any of the four major European tournaments.
Russia was barred from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the 2022 Beijing Winter Games after the World Anti-Doping Agency imposed a four-year ban over manipulated doping data.
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