UEFA May Be Forced To Ban Israel As Suspension Talks Held

UEFA may be forced to ban Israel from competitive football after huge pressure from multiple organisations, with the situation laid out in a new report.

Despite strong opposition from a whole host of nations, Israel have continued to play competitive international football and were not banned from participating in World Cup qualifiers.

They did not qualify for the showpiece, finishing in third place in a group which included Norway and Italy, who were both extremely vocal about their participation given the war in Gaza.

But there have still been increasing pressure for UEFA to act and suspend Israel in the same way that Russia were banned following the invasion of Ukraine.

UEFA have received strong calls to ban Israel. Image: Getty

Last month, more than 70 athletes including Paul Pogba and Hakim Ziyech signed an open letter calling on UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin to administer the ban, while the United Nations official website published a statement from a group of experts claiming that the punishment is "a necessary response to address the ongoing genocide in the occupied Palestinian territory".

Manchester city boss Pep Guardiola claimed that Palestine has been "abandoned" after "massacres" in Gaza.

UEFA were set to discuss a potential ban on Israel in a vote from its executive committee in late September but proceedings were halted when US president Donald Trump announced a peace proposal that brought a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

UEFA's meetings revealed

A new report from The Athletic has shed new light on the situation, revealing that UEFA executives have held meetings with the organisers of a leading pro-Palestinian campaign called 'The Game Over Israel campaign' - which is described on its website as "a coalition of ordinary people” comprising “organisers, activists, humanitarians and football fans.

Conversations have taken place before and since the ceasefire and included discussions about "the mechanisms under which a ban might be enforced".

One meeting saw UEFA ask the activists to "canvas insights from human rights experts".

UEFA have held meetings with Game Over Israel representatives. Image: Getty

It is noted that the UEFA suspending Israel through votes from its executive committee is "currently unlikely" but the governing body is "closely monitoring" the development of two legal challenges - one of which has come from the Republic of Ireland.

The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) voted heavily in favour to submit a motion to suspend Israel from all UEFA competitions.

That challenge, coupled with one in Switzerland, could force UEFA to uphold a ban under international law.

UEFA chief Ceferin has said he is not in favour of banning athletes but did also say that "what is happening with civilians there is personally hurting, killing me."

According to the article, Ceferin "personally pushed" for the displaying of a banner the Super Cup which read: “Stop killing children; Stop killing civilians”. Two children from Gaza were also involved in handing out medals.

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, 70,000 Palestinians have been killed after Hamas' attack in Israel in October 2023, with around 1,200 people killed.