The This Thursday, FIFA imposed a fine of 150,000 Swiss francs (165,000 euros) on the Israeli Football Federation (IFA) for “serious and repeated violations” of its obligations in the fight against discrimination as a member association of the world body.
After a proposal presented by the Palestinian Federation (PFA) in May 2024 during the 74th FIFA Congress and the subsequent decision of the body’s Council to entrust the Commission to investigate the case, it has decided to sanction the IFA “for failing to comply with articles 13 (Offensive conduct and violations of the principles of fair play) and 15 (Discrimination and racist attacks) of the Disciplinary Code.”
In the decision of the disciplinary commission, lists a series of racist behaviors in Israeli footballranging from slogans that exalt racial purity in the stands of the Beitar Jerusalem until insults towards Arab players, passing through “political and militaristic messages” from leaders of professional leagues and Maccabi Netanya FC on their social networks.
The FIFA considers the fines that the Israeli federation had imposed on Beitar modest and too vaguewithout explicitly linking them to racist incidents. It also observes that the body “has not made any public statement condemning racism, “It has not launched any anti-discrimination campaign and has not undertaken any initiative aimed at promoting the inclusion of Arab or Palestinian players.”
Specifically, The Israeli federation must pay two-thirds of the fine “within 30 days” and invest the rest “in the implementation of a general plan aimed at guaranteeing the fight against discrimination.”
In addition, must display, during its next three international home matches, “a banner of considerable size and highly visible con las palabras «Football Unites the World – No to Discrimination» (“Football unites the world – No to discrimination)adds the organization.
No measures on Israeli clubs established in illegal colonies
The FIFA has never accepted the sanction requested two years ago by the Palestinian federation, which requested the suspension of its Israeli counterpart. alleging a series of violations of the soccer body’s statutes, including discrimination.
He has now decided not to take “any action” on the Israeli clubs established in the illegal colonies of the West Bank. In this way, it rejected a Palestinian request that had also been waiting for two years and that had been supported by several United Nations experts.
The world football body chose “not to take any action” because “the final legal status of the West Bank is an unresolved and extremely complex issue in public international law,” he announced in a statement.
