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Palestinian Football Association criticises FIFA for lack of speed and ‘clarity’ in Israel investigation [1]

['Adam Crafton']

Date: 2025-05-16

ASUNCION — FIFA has been accused by the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) of failing to provide “clarity or due process” as part of its ongoing investigation into alleged breaches of its statutes by Israeli football teams and authorities.

In an address made on the floor of the FIFA Congress in Paraguay on Thursday, Susan Shalabi, the vice president of the PFA, urged world football’s governing body to “act now”, adding that the organisation must not “keep rewriting the minutes of meetings and passing the bucket from one committee to the other while football in Palestine is being erased.”

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The Palestinian representative was speaking after her association put forward a motion which requested that the Congress — where 211 nations are represented — adopts a decision to compel FIFA’s Governance, Audit and Compliance Committee (GACC) to urgently conclude its investigation into whether teams from Israeli settlements in the West Bank competing in national Israeli competitions represent a breach of the FIFA statutes. The issue has been a long-standing complaint of the Palestinian association.

FIFA has opened two investigations into Israeli football in the past 12 months, with one scrutinising the teams from settlements and another investigating allegations of discrimination by the Israeli Football Association. The latter is being overseen by its disciplinary committee.

The FIFA Council ordered its GACC to look into the matter relating to the settlement teams and return with advice in October, but almost eight months on, there is still no decision. “One year ago, we stood here and asked this body not for favours, not for special treatment, but for the enforcement of the very statutes and principles that we all agreed to govern us as members of the global football community,” Shalabi said.

At the FIFA Congress in Thailand in 2024, PFA president Jibril Rajoub called for Israel to be suspended from global football, calling on FIFA “to stand on the right side of history”. He also asked whether FIFA considers “some wars to be more important than others and some victims to be more significant.” This came in the aftermath of heightened tensions between Israel and the Palestinians following the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and a subsequent military response by Israel which has seen over 50,000 people killed, according to figures attributed to the Gazan health ministry by the New York Times.

PFA vice-president Susan Shalabi Molano speaks at the FIFA Congress (Buda Mendes – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)

FIFA chose not to suspend Israel but did open the two investigations. However, the Palestinians are unhappy with the speed of FIFA’s inquiries.

Shalabi said: “Last year, president Infantino himself described the matter as ‘urgent’ and promised swift review. The matter was then remitted to the FIFA Governance Audit and Compliance Committee and the FIFA Disciplinary Committee, but that was eight months ago, and even now in the report that we hear from compliance, we didn’t even see any mention of Palestine or the investigation that was being done there. Since then, we received no timeline, no response, no clarity, no due process, despite repeated follow-ups. Our issue sadly again is stuck in a highly politicised bureaucratic holding pattern.”

She added that the Palestinian case has been supported by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Fair Square in letters to the FIFA Council. She requested that the FIFA Congress votes to compel a response by the GACC within one month.

The Congress, however, did not vote on the matter and was instead addressed by FIFA’s General Secretary Mattias Grafstrom. He stressed the need for the committees to work “autonomously and independently” and not to be instructed by Congress on a deadline. He also said the GACC has “requested expert reporting, including on topics of territoriality, to support its work.”

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When questioned further by reporters after the Congress, Grafstrom added: “Our independent committees are working with the topic. The work is ongoing and will continue until they come to a conclusion.”

Nobody present at the Congress spoke for or against the Palestinian motion, but Shalabi’s speech did receive applause. The Israeli Football Association (IFA) did not take up an invitation to respond.

Last year, IFA president Shino Moshe Zuares dismissed Rajoub’s demand to suspend Israel as a “cynical political and hostile attempt to harm Israeli football.” The IFA has been approached for comment.

Shalabi’s speech was also missed by European members of the FIFA Council, who had walked out of the FIFA Congress midway through proceedings in protest at Infantino prioritising meetings this week in the Middle East with U.S. President Donald Trump and the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, meaning that he arrived late for his own Congress on Thursday morning. Infantino later apologised for being late.

Gianni Infantino’s late arrival caused anger at the FIFA Congress (Daniel Duarte/AFP via Getty Images)

Norwegian Football Federation president Lise Klaveness is not on the FIFA Council but she also joined the walk-out.

However, in a statement sent to The Athletic, the Norwegian federation said: “The Norwegian Football Federation stands in solidarity with the Palestinian Football Association and supports their right to have this long-standing issue properly addressed by FIFA.

“This matter has been pending for many years, and it is only fair and reasonable that FIFA now concludes the process in line with its own Statutes, human rights commitments, and international frameworks.

“We trust that FIFA will ensure transparency and accountability in this process, and that all member associations can have confidence that the rules are applied consistently and fairly.

“We share the view that football must not be used in a way that undermines internationally recognised rights or established legal principles. It is in the interest of the global football community that this matter is resolved in a credible and timely manner.”

(Top photo: Buda Mendes – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)

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[1] Url: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6361074/2025/05/16/palestine-israel-football-fifa-investigation/

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