Zurich, Oct 4: FIFA stopped short of suspending the Israeli football federation on Thursday, but asked for a disciplinary investigation of possible discrimination alleged by Palestinian football officials.
A senior FIFA panel overseeing governance will separately investigate “the participation in Israeli competitions of Israeli football teams allegedly based in the territory of Palestine,” football’s governing body said after a meeting of its ruling Council.
The Palestinian football federation has consistently asked FIFA for more than a decade to take action against the Israeli football body for incorporating teams from West Bank settlements in its leagues.
The compromise decisions came more than four months after Palestinian officials had urged FIFA to suspend Israel’s membership at a meeting in May.
The request to FIFA’s congress in May also cited “international law violations” in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas conflict and directed the football body to its statutory commitments on human rights and against discrimination. FIFA delayed making a decision in May until after a legal review scheduled for July, then pushed back the issue two more times until a meeting of its 37-member Council on Thursday. FIFA gave no timetable Thursday for the investigations it has now requested. (AP)
