Turkey demands suspension of Israel from UEFA and FIFA – Free Press
Turkey has become the first member of European football’s governing body UEFA to publicly call for Israel to be suspended from international football, calling the situation in Gaza “inhumane and unacceptable”.
Turkish Football Federation President Ibrahim Haciosmanoglu has sent a letter to world football leaders ahead of next week’s UEFA Executive Committee meeting, which could consider Israel’s suspension.
“Now is the time for FIFA and UEFA to act. Although they position themselves as defenders of civic values and peace, the sports world and football institutions have been silent for too long,” Haciosmanoglu said in the letter, the Anadolu Agency reported.
Haciosmanoglu is not a member of UEFA’s 20-member board, but it is expected that there could be a majority there to exclude Israel if a vote were to come.
Separately, the US State Department said on Thursday it would work to block any attempt to have Israel expelled from the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada. FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who is close to the World Cup organizers and US President Donald Trump, has so far shown no sign of supporting a suspension.
Israel is currently playing in World Cup qualifiers, with their next match scheduled for October 11 in Oslo.
Meanwhile, a United Nations investigation panel has declared that Israel committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, prompting Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to call for sports sanctions against the country. He said Israel should be treated the same as Russia, which was banned from international competition in 2022 over its involvement in the war in Ukraine.
Israel regularly denies accusations of genocide, claiming its actions are justified as self-defense. The attack on Gaza came in response to a Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, in which 1.200 people were killed and 251 were kidnapped. According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, at least 65.000 people have died in Gaza since then.
