The Football Association of Ireland has called for the immediate suspension of Israel over the Israeli FA's violation of UEFA statutes in occupied Palestinian territory.
Posted on November 8, 2025
Members of Irish football's governing body have approved a resolution instructing its board of directors to submit a formal motion to UEFA requesting Israel's immediate suspension from European competitions, the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) said.
The resolution approved by FAI members on Saturday cites violations by the Israeli Football Association of two provisions of UEFA's statutes: its failure to implement and enforce an effective anti-racism policy and play by Israeli clubs in occupied Palestinian territory without the consent of the Palestinian Football Association.
The resolution was supported by 74 votes, seven against and two abstentions, the FAI said in a statement.
UEFA considered holding a vote early last month on whether to suspend Israel from European competitions for its genocide in Gaza, but the vote did not take place after a US-brokered ceasefire came into effect on October 10.
The Irish resolution follows calls made in September by the heads of Turkish and Norwegian football's governing bodies for Israel to be suspended from international competition.
Those requests came after United Nations experts called on FIFA and UEFA to suspend Israel from international soccer, citing a U.N. Commission of Inquiry report that said Israel had committed genocide during the war in Gaza.
'Israel is allowed to operate with total impunity'
In October, more than 30 legal experts asked UEFA to ban Israel and its clubs.
The letter highlighted the damage Israel is inflicting on sport in Gaza. At least 421 Palestinian footballers have been killed since Israel began its military offensive in October 2023, and the letter explained that Israel's bombing campaign is “systematically destroying Gaza's football infrastructure.”
FIFA President Gianni Infantino brushed aside the calls by indirectly addressing them as a “geopolitical issue” at the FIFA Council on October 2.
“We are committed to using the power of football to unite people in a divided world,” Infantino said.
The apparently preferential treatment given to Israel's soccer team was an extension of the “total impunity” the country has enjoyed amid the two-year war, according to Abdullah Al-Arian, an associate professor of history at Georgetown University in Qatar.
“Sports bodies often reflect the broader power politics at play. [in the world] and that is why they are only doing what we have seen happen in all areas of political life, in which Israel has not been held accountable,” Al-Arian told Al Jazeera.
“He [Israel] “He has been allowed to operate with complete impunity throughout this genocide and has enjoyed this impunity for many decades.”
In 2024, the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) presented arguments accusing the Israel Football Association (IFA) of violating FIFA statutes with its war in Gaza and the inclusion of clubs located in illegal settlements on Palestinian territory in its national football league.
The PFA wanted FIFA to adopt “appropriate sanctions” against Israel's national team and clubs, including an international ban.
He called on FIFA to sanction Israel, but the world body postponed its decision by delegating the matter to its disciplinary committee for review. Al-Arian called it “a measure to keep the bureaucratic machinery moving without achieving any real progress.”
“Ultimately, it is a political decision that is made at the highest levels of the organization,” he said.
