The FIFA Council has postponed a decision on a Palestinian request to suspend Israel from international football until October.
World soccer's governing body FIFA has again delayed its review of a Palestinian request for Israel to be suspended from the international arena over its war in Gaza.
FIFA said on Friday night that it will now consider proposals from the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) against the Israel Football Association (IFA) in October.
The PFA had submitted a proposal to suspend Israel in May, and FIFA ordered an urgent legal assessment and promised to address it at an extraordinary meeting of its council in July.
FIFA said last month that the legal assessment would be shared with its board by August 31.
The Zurich-based body announced that it had postponed the evaluation until October.
“FIFA has received an independent legal assessment of the Palestinian Football Association's submissions against Israel,” FIFA said.
“This assessment will be sent to the FIFA Council for review so that the matter can be discussed at its next meeting in October.”
FIFA declined to give further details about the evaluation or when the meeting will take place in October.
The Palestinian proposal accuses the IFA of complicity in violations of international law by the Israeli government, of discrimination against Arab players and of including clubs based in Palestinian territory in its league.
The IFA has rejected the allegations.
The PFA has said at least 92 Palestinian players have been killed in the war, football infrastructure has been destroyed, its leagues suspended and its national team forced to play World Cup qualifiers abroad.
In its proposal, the PFA wanted FIFA to adopt “appropriate sanctions” against Israeli teams, including the national team and clubs.
At least 40,691 people have been killed and 94,060 injured since Israel's war on Gaza began on October 7. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during attacks led by the Palestinian group Hamas on October 7.
