LONDON, October 5, 2024 – FIFA has created yet another breathing space for itself in the years-long struggle to avoid taking any sort of decision in the football politics struggle between Palestine and Israel.
The world football federation has been treading a diplomatic high wire for more than a decade since the Palestine Football Federation first pressed for the suspension or expulsion of Israel over restrictions on movement of players between Gaza and the West Bank plus disputed access to imported equipment.
Sepp Blatter and Jacques Rogge, when presidents of FIFA and the International Olympic Committee respectively, both flew to the region in 2011 to seek solutions in vain. Relations between the two local federations have only deteriorated since then and plumbed new depths amid the present Middle East crisis.
Last May the PFF demanded that FIFA Congress, meeting in Bangkok, vote on a proposal to exclude Israel. This was supported from the floor by the Jordanian FA but congress, instead, approved president Gianni Infantino’s strategy of referring the dispute to FIFA Council.
FIFA and Infantino hoped in vain that a resolution to the military crisis might obviate any decision upsetting one federation or the other – all the while aware that sporting wrangling mattered not one iota compared with the thousands of deaths in the conflict.
Hence the autumn council meeting, in Zurich, embraced recommendations from an “independent legal analysis” that the governance, audit and compliance committee should investigate the PFF’s allegations of discrimination in breach of FIFA regulations.
The claim centres on the participation in Israeli competitions of Israeli football of teams from “territory of Palestine”.
Infantino said: “The FIFA Council has implemented due diligence on this very sensitive matter and, based on a thorough assessment, we have followed the advice of the independent experts.
“The ongoing violence in the region confirms that, above all considerations, and as stated at the 74th FIFA Congress, we need peace. As we remain extremely shocked by what is happening, and our thoughts are with those who are suffering, we urge all parties to restore peace to the region with immediate effect.”
Other issues:
FIFA Council unanimously approved regulations for next year’s Club World Cup to try to iron out inevitable confusion over calendar clashes and transfer windows.
FAs of the 24 clubs involved may open an extra window from June 1 to 10 before the tournament kickoff. Clubs may replace departing players during a restricted period from June 27 to July 3.
Infantino, desperate to talk up a highly controversial new competition, said: “The FIFA Club World Cup 2025 will kick off a new era for club football across the world, with the top teams competing to be crowned the official FIFA club world champions.
“These regulations will ensure that the best possible conditions are in place in order for all 32 participating clubs and the best players in the world to shine at the highest level.”
FIFA Council also unanimously approved a consolidated vote at an extraordinary congress on December to award the 2030 World Cup finals to Morocco, Portugal and Spain (with kickoffs in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay) and the 2034 finals to Saudi Arabia.
The artifice is aimed to save FIFA the embarrassment of live complaints in congress from some European federations about Saudi Arabia’s human rights record.
Dates decided
75th FIFA Congress in Asunción, Paraguay, on May 15, 2025;
FIFA U-20 World Cup Chile 2025: September 27 to October 19, 2025;
FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Morocco 2025: October 17 to November 8, 2025;
FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup Philippines 2025: November 21 to December 7, 2025.
CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations 2024: July 5 to 26, 2025;
OFC Women’s Nations Cup 2025: July 4 to 19, 2025;
CONMEBOL Copa América Femenina 2025: July 12 to August 2, 2025.
