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Israel’s Soccer Association Responds to FIFA’s Decision Not to Suspend Jewish State Despite Palestinian Efforts
Soccer fans carrying an Israeli flag at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Photo: Reuters/Henry Romero.
The Israel Football Association (IFA) has reacted to FIFA’s recent decision not to suspend the Israeli club and instead investigate the IFA over allegations of discrimination by the Palestinian Football Association (PFA), which is also calling for Israel’s suspension from international soccer matches.
“Whoever fantasized about the suspension of Israeli football from the international arena or sanctions through lies and false accusations, has suffered a defeat,” read a statement given to Fox News Digital by IFA head of communications Shlomi Barzell over the weekend. “Again, we have acted over time in different channels, in a calculated and proactive manner in the face of the challenge of the Palestinian Association and its leader to distort reality, and the result today leaves no room for doubt.”
“We respect the authors of the report submitted to the council members and the decision of the council members to consider transferring two issues to a legal examination, as long as there is any factual justification for it,” the statement further noted. “Thanks to values that represent a glorious democracy and an independent and determined legal system of the Football Association, we have never violated and will not violate any of the FIFA/UEFA rules.”
FIFA, the world’s governing body for soccer, announced on Oct. 3 that its disciplinary committee will launch an investigation into claims by the PFA that the IFA is complicit in the Israeli government’s alleged violation of international law during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. The PFA also accused the IFA of discriminating against Arab players and including teams located in Palestinian territory in its leagues.
“The FIFA Disciplinary Committee will be mandated to initiate an investigation into the alleged offense of discrimination raised by the Palestine Football Association,” FIFA said in a statement. “FIFA’s Governance, Audit, and Compliance Committee will be entrusted with the mission to investigate — and subsequently advise the FIFA Council on — the participation in Israeli competitions of Israeli football teams allegedly based in the territory of Palestine.”
FIFA gave no timetable for when results of the investigation will be announced.
“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,” added FIFA President Gianni Infantino. “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.”
The PFA submitted a proposal in May to sanction Israel and ban Israeli teams from all international soccer competitions due to the war in Gaza. The proposal cited “international law violations committed by the Israeli occupation in Palestine, particularly in Gaza” and referenced FIFA statutory commitments on human rights and against discrimination. The proposal also accused the Israel Football Association (IFA) of “providing moral, economic, and practical support to the occupation” of Palestinian territories.
FIFA has repeatedly delayed making its final decision about the PFA proposal.
The post Israel’s Soccer Association Responds to FIFA’s Decision Not to Suspend Jewish State Despite Palestinian Efforts 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.