Donald Trump Intervention Sees UEFA Perform Israel Ban U-Turn

UEFA are set to pause any decision made on banning Israel from competitions following the intervention of United States President Donald Trump.

UEFA and FIFA have been subjected to growing pressure to place Israel and its football teams under sanctions, with a coalition of 50 professional athletes including former Chelsea winger Hakim Ziyech signed an open letter calling on UEFA to suspend the nation from competing.

In addition, the United Nations official website published a statement from a group of experts urging both FIFA and UEFA to ban Israel, claiming the move is "a necessary response to address the ongoing genocide in the occupied Palestinian territory".

According to figures released by the Hamas-run health ministry, since the Israel-Gaza war commenced in October 2023, more than 60,000 Palestinian people have been killed as a result of Israel's military campaign.

Galatasaray unfurled Pro-Palestine banners for their game against Liverpool. Image: Getty

While the Russian national team and clubs have been suspended ever since the full-scale 2022 invasion of Ukraine but no such decision has been made on Israel.

However, recent reports claimed UEFA were poised to discuss a potential ban on Israel in a vote from its executive committee following the increasing pressure.

But in a fresh development, the governing body are now halting any plans after Trump, the 45th and 47th President of the US, announced a peace proposal which he said Hamas have “three or four days” to accept.

As per The Guardian, proposal has been supported by Keir Starmer, among other European leaders but UEFA's stance, which has not yet been confirmed, could change if no agreement is reached.

Any ban would mean Israel men’s and women’s national teams would be removed from the Nations League, with Maccabi Tel Aviv also excluded from the Europa League.

Israel are third in Group I World Cup qualifying. Image: Getty

The team take on Dinamo Zagreb in the competition on Thursday in what could well be their final appearance in the competition.

Despite opposition from many nations, Israel are still participating in World Cup qualifiers and their new two fixtures are against Norway and Italy, who have both been vocal about the situation.

Israel's UEFA World Cup loophole

A UEFA ban would also not apply to the World Cup as the competition is controlled by FIFA, who would need to act. UEFA only organise the qualifying in collaboration with FIFA.

Unless banned by FIFA, Israel would technically still be allowed to play in qualifiers for the World Cup. They are currently third in Group I, level on points with Italy.

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has been pressed on the issue on a number of occasions and last month, revealed he is not in favour of banning athletes who he does not deem to be deserving of punishment.

"Look, first of all, what’s happening with civilians there is personally hurting, killing me,” Ceferin told Politico.

“From the other point of view, I’m not a supporter of banning the athletes. Because what can an athlete do to their government to stop the war? It’s very, very hard. Now, the ban for Russian teams is, I think, three and a half years. Did the [Ukraine] war stop? It didn’t.”