On top of land, settlements, resources and borders, Israel and the Palestinians can add another dispute to their long history of conflict – soccer. In 10 days’ time, at the request of the Palestine Football Association, FIFA will hold a vote among its 209 members at a Congress in Geneva on whether Israel should be…
(JTA) — The world soccer federation’s boss, Sepp Blatter, is preparing to travel to Jerusalem and Ramallah in a bid to resolve a dispute over a Palestinian effort to have Israel banned from the association. Blatter, president of the Switzerland-based FIFA, told reporters on Friday that he will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu…
The head of the Palestinian Football Association reinforced his call for Israel to be suspended from FIFA on Thursday, saying the Israeli Football Association was part of an “apartheid, racist government” that was damaging Palestinian soccer. The PFA accuses Israel of obstructing its activities and restricting the movement of players between the Gaza Strip and…
The president of FIFA reiterated that Israel will not be suspended from international soccer’s governing body. Sepp Blatter made his remarks in a meeting Wednesday with the heads of Israel’s soccer association at FIFA headquarters in Zurich. According to a FIFA news release, Blatter “reiterated his position that any member association that is fulfilling its…
Israel’s top soccer administrators will meet FIFA President Sepp Blatter in Zurich on Wednesday in a late bid to avert a vote called by the Palestinians to suspend Israel from the world body. An official from Israel’s FA told Reuters that chairman Ofer Eini and chief executive Rotem Kamer would urge Blatter to use his…
Police in Berlin have apologized to German fans of the Ingolstadt Soccer Club for making them roll up the Israeli flag they were displaying during a match in the city. Almog Cohen, an Israeli who plays for Ingolstadt, reportedly tweeted in Hebrew after Sunday’s incident in the game against Union Berlin that a stadium marshal…
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…
A prominent European group promoting tolerance honored one of Europe’s leading soccer stars for his efforts to curb racism in sports. The European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation announced that it would give its third European Medal of Tolerance to Samuel Eto’o Fils, a Cameroon-born soccer striker who is a three-time Champions League winner. Eto’o…
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