FIFA Resists Global Pressure to Suspend Israel, Citing Peace Mission Amid Protests

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - In the face of a growing global movement demanding the suspension of Israeli teams from international football, FIFA President Gianni Infantino declared on Thursday that the world governing body's primary mission is to promote peace and unity, asserting that it cannot be expected to solve complex geopolitical problems. 

As the nearly two-year conflict in Gaza continues to reverberate through the world of sport, Infantino navigated a febrile period of football politics, holding firm against calls for punitive action against Israel, a stance bolstered by a recent U.S.-led peace proposal that has temporarily quelled a burgeoning rebellion within European football's own ranks. 

While the issue was not formally on the agenda of FIFA's ruling council in Zurich, the controversy loomed large, culminating in a private meeting between Infantino and the leader of the Palestinian football federation, even as street-level anger in Europe began to boil over ahead of Israel's upcoming World Cup qualifying matches.

The pressure on FIFA has been building for months, with a significant push for suspension emerging from within the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).

According to the Associated Press, citing people familiar with the discussions, a number of European football federations, including those of Norway and Turkey, were urging UEFA to call a vote of its executive committee to suspend Israeli teams from all international competitions. 

The momentum was so strong that any vote of the 20-member UEFA panel seemed likely to pass, despite expected opposition from members such as Germany and Israel itself.

However, the political landscape shifted dramatically on Monday following a peace proposal unveiled at the White House by U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This diplomatic maneuver appeared to pause the strongest push by European football leaders, providing FIFA with critical breathing room. The influence of the United States on the matter had been made explicit just last week, when the U.S. State Department declared that it would actively work to protect Israel's status in the world of football. This, combined with Infantino's close ties to President Trump, particularly with the U.S. set to co-host the 2026 World Cup, made it highly unlikely that FIFA would have followed any punitive vote from UEFA.

In an official news release following Thursday's council meeting, which notably did not refer to Israel directly, FIFA said that Infantino had stressed to his 37-member council "the importance of promoting peace and unity, particularly in the context of the ongoing situation in Gaza."

The FIFA president's own statement sought to place the organization above the political fray.

“FIFA cannot solve geopolitical problems," Infantino said, “but it can and must promote football around the world by harnessing its unifying, educational, cultural and humanitarian values.” In a clear sign of the sensitivity of the issue, FIFA did not schedule a post-meeting news conference, and Infantino was not made available for interviews.

The complex diplomatic web surrounding the issue was further highlighted by the role of Qatar. The Gulf nation, a key supporter of the Palestinian people, was also among the Middle Eastern governments that quickly welcomed the Trump-Netanyahu peace proposal.

This move followed a significant diplomatic gesture in which Netanyahu, in a telephone call from the White House, offered an apology to Qatar's prime minister for a September 9 military strike in Doha that had targeted Hamas officials.

Qatar's deep integration into the world of football—both commercially and politically—adds another layer of complexity. The influential head of the 700-member European Club Association, Nasser al-Khelaifi, who is also the president of the Qatari-owned Champions League titleholder Paris Saint-Germain and a member of Qatar's government, was present at the FIFA meeting in Zurich.

Despite the high-level political maneuvering, the Palestinian football federation continued to press its case. Its leader, Jibril Rajoub, met privately with Infantino at FIFA headquarters on Thursday, a day after meeting with International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry in Lausanne. 

In a post on his Instagram account, Infantino said he and Rajoub met to “discuss the ongoing situation in the Middle East region,” and he praised Rajoub's organization “for their resilience at this time.” However, there was no mention of any progress on two formal investigations that FIFA established last year at the request of the Palestinian federation.

 One is a disciplinary investigation into possible discrimination by the Israeli football federation, while a separate governance panel is looking into "the participation in Israeli competitions of Israeli football teams allegedly based in the territory of Palestine." FIFA has provided no timetable for the resolution of these two long-standing cases.

While the diplomatic battle was being waged in the corridors of power in Zurich, the public's anger began to manifest on the streets of Europe.

In Florence, Italy, pro-Palestinian protesters approached the gates of the Italian national football team's training center on Friday to demand that an upcoming World Cup qualifier against Israel be canceled. Italy is scheduled to host Israel in the city of Udine on October 14, just three days after Israel is set to play another qualifier against Norway in Oslo.

The protest in Florence was part of a massive one-day general strike across Italy, which, according to the nation's largest union, involved more than two million people.

The strike was called in solidarity with the Palestinians and in reaction to the recent interception of the "Global Sumud Flotilla" by the Israeli navy, which had resulted in the detention of its activists. The protesters at the Coverciano training center behaved peacefully, holding a large banner that read, “Let’s stop Zionism with the resistance."

A protest leader, using a microphone, shouted, “How can you still allow Israel, a Zionist and criminal state, to play football games?”

This protest was one of dozens that have erupted across Italy since Wednesday. While the demonstration in Florence was peaceful, brief clashes broke out in Milan, where protesters blocking the city's ring road threw bottles at police, who responded with smoke bombs.

The disruptions from the national strike were significant, with highways blocked, hundreds of trains canceled or delayed, and several domestic flights grounded. The upcoming match in Udine is now set to take place under a cloud of heightened tension.

A previous Italy-Israel match in the same city last October in the Nations League went off without incident, but it required a heavy police presence to manage a pro-Palestinian demonstration that took place before the game.

With FIFA holding its line, the path is now clear for Israel's upcoming matches to proceed, but the stage is set for these sporting events to become flashpoints for a deeply divisive political conflict that continues to spill far beyond the borders of the Middle East.