Please sign before the FIFA Congress on 17th May 2024 when Israeli sanctions will be discussed!

FIFA and UEFA claim to promote the values of equality, respect and human rights through football. All of these are undoubtedly being violated in Palestine today. Despite this, FIFA and UEFA have failed to sanction Israeli football teams in response to human rights violations carried out in Palestine by Israel.

The Israeli aggression on Palestine is a human rights and displacement crisis that is in direct conflict with FIFA and UEFA’s values. Over 34,000 civilians have been killed, including 14,000 infants and children, with the number rising daily. The real death toll is likely to be much higher, with over 13,000 Palestinians missing, many of whom are buried beneath the rubble. 90% of Palestinians are internally displaced and living in inhumane conditions and are being denied access to food, water, electricity or medical care. This is also an attack on Palestinian culture, with mosques, churches, libraries, schools and sports grounds destroyed. Among the dead are 99 Palestinian football players. The Palestinian Olympic football coach, Hani al-Masdar, has also been killed.

What is happening in Palestine is also a disability rights crisis. More than 1000 children in Gaza have had one or both legs amputated because of Israeli attacks. This strategy of violence is not new. For years, Israeli soldiers have consistently targeted the legs of Palestinians, with lower limb gunshot injuries widely reported among civilians, a fact verified by aid agencies and hospitals. 

Despite these egregious actions and ongoing humanitarian crimes, both Israel’s and Palestine’s men’s and women’s football teams continue to compete internationally, something which raises significant ethical concerns.

After banning Russia for its aggression on Ukraine in 2022, FIFA has failed to show the same solidarity with the Palestinian people. In 2023, FIFA revoked Indonesia as the host nation of the under-20 men’s World Cup just weeks before the tournament after the Israeli Football Association complained it could not safely play in the tournament as Indonesia did not recognise Israel as a state, but an occupier. The Indonesian Football Federation was sanctioned and the tournament was relocated to Argentina.

In March 2024, the Palestinian Football Association submitted a proposal to discuss Israeli human rights violations against Palestinians at the FIFA Congress on 17th of May 2024 in Thailand.

The proposal “calls for immediate sanctions against Israeli teams over unprecedented violations of human rights committed by the Israeli occupation in Palestine, particularly in the Gaza Strip.”

The situation in Palestine is critical. We can tell FIFA and UEFA today that there should be no world stage for human rights violators. We know this pressure works. Similar international sporting bans were used to help end the Apartheid regime in South Africa.

Please sign this petition now to demand that FIFA and UEFA adhere to their own values and sanction Israeli football teams and ban them from international games with immediate effect.