Calls grow for football boycott as legal experts cite destruction of Palestinian sport and double standards
By Desmond Nleya
More than 30 international legal experts have called on the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) to ban Israel and its football clubs from all competitions, citing United Nations findings that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
In a letter addressed to UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin on Thursday, the signatories described the ban as “imperative” and urged European football’s governing body to “fulfil their legal and moral obligations to uphold international law.”
Gaza’s Football Fabric ‘Systematically Destroyed’
The letter highlighted the devastating toll Israel’s military offensive has had on Gaza’s sporting community. Since October 2023, at least 421 Palestinian footballers have been killed, while stadiums and training facilities have been reduced to rubble.
“These acts have decimated an entire generation of athletes, eroding the fabric of Palestinian sport,” the letter stated. It added that the Israel Football Association’s failure to challenge these violations implicates it “in this system of oppression,” making its continued participation in UEFA competitions “untenable.”
Among the signatories are Elisa von Joeden-Forgey, executive director of the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention, along with several former UN experts and scholars in international law. “UEFA must not be complicit in sports-washing such flagrant breaches of international law,” the letter warned.
Comparisons to South Africa and Russia
Craig Mokhiber, former director at the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in New York, likened the situation to apartheid South Africa, where sporting isolation played a key role in pressuring the regime to change.
“The world unified to isolate the apartheid regime, including sports boycotts,” Mokhiber said. “Allowing a country committing genocide to participate in sports is an act of complicity.”
South Africa was suspended by FIFA in 1961, a move widely viewed as a turning point in the global anti-apartheid struggle. More recently, FIFA and UEFA suspended Russia in 2022 within days of its invasion of Ukraine.
“It’s a stunning level of hypocrisy and double standards,” Mokhiber said, “that they acted swiftly against Russia but have dragged their feet on a full-blown genocide by a regime certified as practising apartheid.”
Israel’s Place in UEFA Under Scrutiny
Although geographically in West Asia, Israel has been a UEFA member since 1994, following boycotts of its teams by Arab and Muslim nations. Its national team currently participates in European World Cup qualifiers, and clubs like Maccabi Tel Aviv compete in UEFA tournaments, including this season’s Europa League.
But the pressure is mounting. Across Europe, football fans have flown Palestinian flags at stadiums in cities including Glasgow, Paris, Rome, and Bilbao. After the killing of Palestinian football legend Suleiman al-Obeid in an Israeli air strike, UEFA posted a tribute but did not mention the cause of death — prompting Liverpool star Mohamed Salah to demand answers.
UEFA had reportedly planned to vote on suspending Israel, but the move was postponed after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a Gaza ceasefire proposal. Thursday’s letter warned that this plan “does not absolve UEFA of its responsibility,” calling it a measure that “undermines international law and Palestinian sovereignty.”
Amnesty International Joins the Call
On Wednesday, Amnesty International added its voice to the growing campaign, urging FIFA and UEFA to suspend Israel.
“As Israel’s national team gears up for World Cup qualifiers against Norway and Italy, Israel continues to perpetrate genocide against Palestinians,” said Agnes Callamard, Amnesty’s secretary general. She condemned Israel’s simultaneous expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Despite the outrage, no European country or club has yet withdrawn from matches against Israeli teams, as boycotts would result in automatic 3–0 victories for Israel under FIFA rules.
‘Follow the Apartheid Model’
Ashish Prashar, campaign director at Game Over Israel — the group that helped organise Thursday’s letter — stressed that football is a powerful cultural platform.
“It is imperative to follow the model that was put before us with apartheid South Africa,” Prashar said. “Knocking Israel out of culture, specifically sports, is essential to challenge genocide.”
The organisation has launched a global media campaign calling for a football boycott, including a high-profile billboard in New York’s Times Square declaring: “Israel is committing genocide. Soccer federations: Boycott Israel.”
FIFA Leadership Under Fire
FIFA President Gianni Infantino, seen as close to Donald Trump, has downplayed the possibility of sanctioning Israel. “FIFA cannot solve geopolitical problems,” he said, “but it can promote football through its unifying, educational, cultural and humanitarian values.”
Mokhiber criticised Infantino’s stance: “Football should unite people around positive values, not around a country committing genocide. I would ask him to look at history and see that bans and boycotts in football have existed since FIFA’s early days.”
Prashar went further: “Gianni Infantino is normalising genocide. Would he have let Nazi Germany play while committing genocide? That is the question he must answer.”
A Growing Movement
With outrage over Gaza’s devastation intensifying, legal scholars, human rights groups, and campaigners are uniting to demand action from UEFA and FIFA. Whether the football authorities follow historical precedent and act — or continue to stall — could shape the future of sports and politics in the global arena.
