Geneva – People familiar with Associated Press said on Thursday that the European Football Association, the European Football Association, is heading towards a vote to suspend its members in Israel on the war in Gaza.
The majority of the 20 members of the UEFA executive committee will support any vote in favor of the suspension of Israeli teams from international play, two sources told Associated Press provided that his identity is not disclosed due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Such a move would prevent Israeli national and club teams from playing in international competitions, including the World Cup next year. The men’s team in Israel is scheduled to resume its World Cup qualified campaign within two weeks with foreign matches against Norway and Italy.
File – The players lined up in front of the UEFA Super CUP football match between Paris Saint -Germain and Tottenham Hotspur in Odin, Italy, on Wednesday, August 13, 2025.
(AP Photo/Denes Erdos, File)
It is unclear whether the football body in the world will support the exclusion of Israel, given the close relations between the FIFA leader, Gianni Infantino, and President Donald Trump.
The Trump administration is seen to secure the World Cup, and to address visas for players, officials and hundreds of thousands of visiting fans, as a key to the two successful championships in the United States, Canada and Mexico next year.
A Foreign Ministry spokesman said that he would stop any efforts that tried to ban the Israeli team from the World Cup.
The FIFA ruling council will meet in Zurich next week. The 37 -member council includes eight UEFA.
FIFA refused to comment on Thursday. Infantino this week is located in the FIFA satellite office in Trump Tower in Manhattan while attending events on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
Calls to exclude Israel from football and other sports in recent weeks have increased in the midst of a cry of human losses for its military campaign in Gaza. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said last week that Israel should be prevented from international sporting events just like Russia, which were marginalized after its widely invaded Ukraine in 2022.
File – Celtic fans raise a banner about Israel during the Champions League match between Glasgow Celtic and Bayern Munich in Glasgow, Scotland, February 12, 2025.
(AP Photo/Scott Heppell, File)
Earlier this week, seven independent experts working with the United Nations Human Rights Council FIFA and UEFA urged Israel to suspend international competitions.
The European Football Association and its president Alexander Severin pointed to a more striking view on Israel last month when they said, “They stopped killing the children. They stopped killing civilians” in the field in front of Paris Saint -Germain and Tottenham teams before the Super Cup match in Odin, Italy.
The discussion about Israel’s ban on international sport comes as Israel faces increasing criticism and isolation on its military campaign, which was launched in response to the Hamas -led attack on October 7, 2023.
Last week, Israel was accused of committing a collective genocide in Gaza by an investigation committee commissioned by the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Moshe Zohar said on Thursday that the Minister of Sports and Culture in Israel, Mickey Zohar, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President of the Israel Football Association, was working “extensively behind the scenes” to prevent efforts to excite Israel from UEFA. “The right step now is to act responsibly with professionals and not to make data, and this is the way all parties act in efforts. We will address this later.”
The decision to ban Russia in 2022 was partially driven by areas of European Union member federations in the European Union, which refuses to play the matches prescribed against Russian opponents. No national team or club team in Europe has yet to play an Israeli opponent, although football leaders in Norway and Italy have expressed their uncomfortable in recent weeks.
The Norwegian Football Association also pledged to give its profits from ticket sales for the October 11 match in Oslo to the humanitarian work in Gaza by the doctors without borders.
Gabriel Gravina, Italy, Laz Clvini from Norway from the elected members of the European Football Association Executive Committee, which can vote on Israel’s suspension. Coenais, President of the Israel Football Association, to the committee, as is the case in Nasser Al -Khalifi, a member of the Qatari government, who is the head of European champion Paris Saint -Germain.
Israel, Qatar, an influential American ally who was a major mediator throughout the war, was an air strike on September 9 targeting Hamas leaders in Doha, the capital of the Qatari.
In the Champions League final in May, PSG fans showed a banner saying, “Genuine extermination in Gaza” in French. UEFA did not open a disciplinary issue despite the presence of rules against political correspondence inside the stadiums.
On Wednesday evening in Greece, the Israeli club Mcabi Tel Aviv played the role of Book in the European Union’s European League. There were protests in support of the Palestinian out of the stadium in Tsaloniki and the banner of the “genocide” displayed at home.
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The Associated Press Joseph Vederman’s correspondent in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
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