Irish football chiefs pass vote seeking Uefa ban on Israel from European competition | Uefa
The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) has approved a decision to submit a formal motion to UEFA calling for Israel to be banned from European clubs and international competitions.
The board’s decision, proposed by Dublin club Bohemians, included allegations that the Israeli Football Association (IFA) had violated two provisions of the UEFA statute. These include its failure to implement and enforce an effective anti-racism policy and its failure to organize clubs in the occupied Palestinian territory without the permission of the Palestinian Football Federation.
In its statement, the FAI stated that the decision was supported by 74 votes, with 7 against and 2 abstentions. UEFA has not yet made a statement regarding the vote.
UEFA paused plans to ban Israel from European football at the end of September after Donald Trump announced his proposed peace plan for the region. UEFA has never officially confirmed that it is considering an extraordinary meeting of its executive committee to hold a vote on the issue, but plans for the proposal are understood to be well developed and any meetings are expected to be held shortly.
Ireland’s national broadcaster RTÉ reported that the FAI statement said: “At an extraordinary general meeting of the Irish Football Association, an ordinary resolution was presented to members of the FAI General Assembly. The resolution was adopted by a majority – 74 in favour, seven against, two abstentions.”
RTÉ added that the FAI said it planned to “submit a formal proposal to the UEFA executive committee requesting the immediate suspension of the Israel Football Association from UEFA competitions for breaching two stand-alone provisions of the UEFA statutes.”
He listed these as “the organization of clubs in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank without the permission of the Palestinian Football Federation, in violation of the FIFA statutes (Article 73) and the UEFA statutes (Article 5)” and “the failure of the IFA to implement and enforce an effective anti-racism policy, in violation of the UEFA statutes (Article 7bis)”.
Ireland’s decision follows calls in September from the heads of Turkish and Norwegian governing bodies for Israel to be removed from international competition. These demands came after United Nations experts called on FIFA and UEFA to suspend Israel from international football, citing a UN commission of inquiry report that said Israel committed genocide during the war in Gaza. Israel has denied committing genocide and called the report scandalous.
If UEFA decides to ban Israel, it would put the organization on a collision course with the US government, which hosts the 2026 World Cup, which strongly opposes such action. While Europe’s governing body has the power to ban Israel or its clubs from competitions in the region, it may not be able to prevent them from competing in the Fifa-supervised World Cup qualifiers.
