Israel faces expulsion from FIFA

Jeddah, May 12: The Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) has agreed to discuss the issue of Israel’s transgressions against Palestinian sports, said Prince Nawaf bin Faisal, head of the Youth Welfare Presidency.

“Israel will be either expelled or suspended from FIFA if it did not apologize for its action against Palestinians and provide guarantees,” he said. “Being the chairman of the Arab Football Federation, I received a detailed report from the Palestinian Football Federation on Israel’s activities to suppress Palestinian sports by preventing them from playing football and other games and not allowing sports equipment to Palestine.”

Prince Nawaf said Israel obstructed the movement of Palestinian teams, forcing them to cancel their foreign trips. “This is a violation of international sports regulations and charters,” sabq.org quoted him as saying.

“I had spoken to FIFA President Sepp Blatter and heads of regional football federations about the difficulties facing the Palestinian people in the sports arena. As a result, FIFA has agreed to discuss the issue in its next meeting,” he said, adding that this is a prelude to expelling Israel from all international games.

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