Uefa is expected to avoid trying to block Israel from World Cup qualifying as it considers measures against the country’s football association.
Under plans being worked out by the European game’s governing body that are expected to be voted on by its executive committee this week, the Guardian understands Israel would be banned only from competitions that Uefa directly controls. That means Israel’s men’s and women’s national teams would be excluded from the Nations League and Maccabi Tel Aviv would be removed from this season’s Europa League.
The World Cup, however, is a Fifa competition, for which Uefa organises the qualifying format and fixtures within Europe. This is done “in collaboration” with Fifa but only subject to the global governing body’s approval. Acting unilaterally to remove Israel would be a politically complicated decision, and one that appears to have been avoided. In the absence of a wider ban, however, Uefa would be in the unusual position of staging World Cup qualifiers for a nation otherwise excluded.
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If Israel were blocked from Uefa’s competitions, the spotlight would spring back to Fifa. Last week a US state department spokesperson warned that it would “absolutely work to fully stop any effort to attempt to ban Israel’s national soccer team from the World Cup”. Fifa’s president, Gianni Infantino, has formed a close relationship with Donald Trump in the buildup to next year’s World Cup, which the US is co-hosting.
Norway and Italy are due to face Israel in qualifying during the upcoming international break, which begins next Monday. Amnesty International in Norway last weekend called on the national FA to increase its pressure on Uefa, and a 24 hour general strike was held in Italy last week in protest at the actions of the Israeli government in Gaza.
Asked last week about the prospect of Italy boycotting their fixture, Gabriele Gravina, the president of the Italian FA, who sits on the Uefa ExCo, said it “would only favour Israel, who could in theory be boosted in their qualifying path to the tournament”. Israel are third in their qualifying group, level on points with second-placed Italy, having played a game more, with the runners-up granted a place in the World Cup playoffs.
Norway are believed to be among the nations calling on Uefa to convene an extraordinary meeting of its ExCo this week to take a decision on the matter. It is understood the growing impetus behind a resolution is in part being driven by the president of Uefa, Aleksander Ceferin. Any meeting is expected be held remotely and could be convened at short notice.
Any decision to suspend the Israel Football Association would be taken in a simple majority vote. Insiders suggest that if it were proposed, the vote would have a strong chance of passing with very few members of Uefa’s 19-strong ExCo expected to object.
Uefa, even if it imposed a ban, would continue to be responsible for organising Israel’s World Cup qualifiers, including providing match officials, security and other staff for their “home” games in Hungary.
Maccabi Tel Aviv are due to play Dinamo Zagreb in their second Europa League tie on Thursday, and that game is expected to go ahead. It could, though, be Maccabi’s final involvement in the competition. A replacement team would be sought, with the most likely possibility being Dynamo Kyiv, who lost in qualifying to Maccabi, though that would have a knock-on effect on the Conference League.
Uefa declined to comment. Fifa did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
