President of FIFA Rejects Palestinian Demand to Ban Israel from Soccer Organization
The president of FIFA, the international governing body of soccer, expressed opposition to a Palestinian request to ban Israel from international competition.
On Tuesday, Sepp Blatter told the French news agency AFP that “such a situation shall not occur at the FIFA congress because suspension of a federation for any reason is always something which harms the whole organization.”
Blatter, who was to meet later in the day with Palestinian Football Association chief Jibril Rajoub in Cairo, did not comment further.
The Palestinian soccer group said last week that during next month’s FIFA Congress in Zurich, it will request the suspension of Israel from FIFA competition for “racist behavior against Arabs.” In past years, the Palestinian association has called for a ban on Israel several times, most recently last November after Israeli forces raided the association’s headquarters in Ramallah.
Blatter threatened to suspend Israel from international play in 2013 for excessive government interference in soccer. Israel heavily restricts travel between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and the Palestinian association argues that it inhibits their athletes.
Israel cites safety reasons for its monitoring of West Bank travel.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
