A growing global movement is demanding that Israel be banned from world football, as the death toll of Palestinian athletes under Israeli bombardment continues to mount.
Fourteen-year-old Mohammed Ramez Al-Sultan, a youth player at Gaza’s Al-Hilal Club, was killed alongside 14 family members in an Israeli airstrike last week. Just days earlier, fellow Al-Hilal player Malik Abu Al-Amaren was shot dead by Israeli occupation forces while waiting for food aid. Suleiman al-Obeid, the “Palestinian Pelé,” and Mohammed Barakat, the “Legend of Khan Younis,” were also among dozens of football stars killed in Israel’s ongoing assault.
According to the Palestine Football Association (PFA), Israel’s genocidal war has killed more than 774 members of the sports community, including 355 football players, while many others remain missing under rubble. In December, Gaza’s main football stadium was even turned into a detention and torture camp by Israeli forces.
The destruction of sports infrastructure and indiscriminate killing of athletes has fueled outrage worldwide. A new campaign, “Game Over Israel,” launched with a billboard in New York’s Times Square, calls on FIFA and UEFA to suspend Israel, as they did with Russia just four days after its invasion of Ukraine.
The initiative has gained backing from football icons like Eric Cantona, Gary Lineker, Walter Zenga, as well as public figures including Liam Cunningham, Yanis Varoufakis, and Richard Falk. They accuse FIFA of hypocrisy for tolerating genocide while preaching fair play.
Cantona noted: “We are now more than 700 days into genocide, yet Israel still plays. Why the double standards? FIFA and UEFA must suspend Israel, and clubs everywhere must refuse to play them.”
Governments and football associations are also joining in: Spain’s Prime Minister has called for Israeli teams to be banned, Italy’s Coaches’ Association has urged suspension, and Norway pledged to donate proceeds from its match against Israel to Gaza aid.
Despite repeated appeals from the PFA, FIFA continues to stall, handing the issue to committees instead of taking decisive action. FIFA chief Gianni Infantino has been widely condemned for political coziness with pro-Israel allies, ignoring the bloodshed in Gaza.
Supporters of the boycott say football can be the cultural domino that triggers wider isolation of Israel. As campaign manager Ashish Prashar put it: “Football is the first domino. There should be no normalization in abnormal times.”
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