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Asian Football Confederation Backs Proposal to Suspend Israel From FIFA Amid War in Gaza
Soccer fans carrying an Israeli flag at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Photo: Reuters/Henry Romero.
Asia’s governing body for soccer on Thursday announced its support for a proposal by the Palestine Football Association (PFA) to suspend Israel from FIFA due to its military campaign targeting Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa made the announcement at the 34th AFC Congress in Bangkok, Thailand.
“The AFC is only as strong as its members and when one suffers, all its other members are affected,” Salman told delegates. “The AFC stands together with the Palestine FA, and we join them in seeking effective football-related solutions to the grievances raised by the Palestine FA in their proposal.”
AFC’s 47-member Congress includes Australia, Jordan, Lebanon, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. FIFA President Gianni Infantino also attended the gathering on Thursday.
“We, as a football community and as a governing body of the most popular sport in the world, have a statutory commitment to uphold the FIFA and AFC objectives and take appropriate steps to prevent infringements of FIFA and AFC statutes and regulations,” Salman added. “It is our duty to support the Palestine FA for a swift and effective resolution in line with the rules, regulations, and statutes of the AFC and FIFA.”
AFC’s president additionally said the governing body is committed to standing in “solidarity and unity” with the PFA. “There is potential for us to play a dynamic role in standing up for human rights, including within our own sphere of operations,” he said.
During AFC’s Congress on Thursday, delegates stood for a moment of silence in honor of the victims of the Israel-Hamas war and were shown a video that drew attention to the destruction in the Gaza Strip caused by the conflict, which Hamas started with its deadly rampage across southern Israel on Oct. 7. The Israeli military has responded with a campaign aimed at freeing the hostages abducted by Hamas and destroying the Palestinian terrorist group, which rules Gaza.
The AFC Congress took place one day before the 74th FIFA Congress, where the governing body will address the PFA’s motion to ban Israel’s teams from international competitions. PFA’s President Jibril Rajoub thanked the AFC Congress for its stance and said he hopes to garner more support from the FIFA Congress on Friday.
“I hope that FIFA President Gianni Infantino realizes the meaning and content of what Sheikh Salman said, supporting the implementation of international laws to protect Palestinian sports,” Rajoub said. “Tomorrow, at the FIFA General Assembly meeting, our battle will be launched by the Asian Confederation in solidarity with us, and we hope to continue to align and support it in the International Congress in accordance with FIFA’s regulations and laws.” He also accused Israel of “racist practices” and “genocide” targeting Palestinians.
In March, PFA formally submitted a proposal to FIFA that called for Israel’s removal from the governing body in response to “grave human rights and humanitarian law violations committed by Israel.” The motion also accuses the Israel Football Association (IFA) of “providing moral, economic, and practical support to the occupation” of Palestinian territories, saying “the IFA is complicit in the Israeli government’s violations against Palestinian football.”
The motion has already garnered support from federations representing Algeria, Qatar, Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. FIFA is expected to discuss and potentially vote on the proposal on Friday. Football Australia — the governing body of soccer, futsal, and beach soccer within Australia — has reportedly decided to abtain from any possible vote on the matter.
PFA similarly tried to push FIFA to boycott Israel in 2015 when it claimed that the Jewish state did not allow free movement of Palestinian or foreign players. The proposal was dropped by the Palestinians just before the vote.
In February, the 12-member West Asian Football Federations wrote a letter to FIFA, its national member associations, and its regional confederations, including European governing body UEFA, calling for Israel to be banned “from all football-related activities” and for soccer leaders to take “a decisive stand against the atrocities committed in Palestine and the war crimes in Gaza.”
Meanwhile, ticket sales have been suspended for a Belgium-Israel match in the UEFA Nations League that is set to take place on Sept. 6 in Brussels because of security concerns, likely attributed to anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrators who have repeatedly protested in Brussels since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas. The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) announced on Thursday that no tickets are currently on sale for the match at King Baudouin Stadium. The RBFA said it “is in permanent contact with the security services, the city of Brussels, and the federal government” and security concerns are “being analyzed.”
“We know that a sold-out King Baudouin stadium gives a huge boost to our Red Devils … For the match against Israel, we are in contact with the authorities,”said RBFA CEO Piet Vandendriessche. “But safety comes first, always.”
The post Asian Football Confederation Backs Proposal to Suspend Israel From FIFA Amid War in Gaza first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.