Football Association of Ireland Passes Motion Seeking Uefa Ban on Israeli Teams

Ireland's football governing body has given the green light to present a formal motion to European football's governing body, calling for the exclusion of Israeli football from continental team and national tournaments.

Grounds for the Proposed Suspension

The resolution, which was proposed by Irish side Bohemians, highlighted alleged violations by the Israel Football Association of a couple of key Uefa statutes.

• Inability to implement and enforce an effective policy against racism.
• Organisation of football teams in disputed territories without the approval of the Palestrian FA.

Ballot Results and Next Steps

As stated in an announcement from the Irish FA, the proposal was backed by 74 votes, with seven against and 2 abstentions.

They plans to officially present this motion to the Uefa executive committee, seeking the immediate suspension of the Israel Football Association from European tournaments.

During a special assembly of the Football Association of Ireland, an ordinary resolution was posed to delegates. It was approved by a large margin.

Previous European Considerations

The European body had previously paused intentions to ban Israeli football at the end of September, following the announcement of a US peace proposal for the region.

While they never officially confirmed contemplating an special session on the issue, preparations were believed to be quite advanced.

International Backdrop

The FAI move comes after similar calls in last autumn from the leaders of Turkish and Norwegian football associations for Israel's suspension from global football.

These appeals were made after UN specialists urged Fifa and Uefa to suspend the Israeli FA, referencing a UN investigation that accused Israel of committing genocide during the war in Gaza.

The Israeli government has denied these allegations and labeled the report as scandalous.

Possible Consequences

If European football's authority choose to suspend the IFA, it would likely create tension with the US administration – co-hosts for the 2026 World Cup – which strongly opposes such an measure.

Even though the European body has the power to suspend Israeli teams from European competitions, it might not be able to prevent them from competing in World Cup qualifiers, which falls under world football's governing body.