The world’s governing body for football, FIFA, has postponed its decision on Palestine’s request to suspend Israel from international football.
“An independent legal assessment of the Palestinian Football Association’s proposal against the Israel Football Association was due to be submitted to the FIFA Council by July 20th, 2024,” FIFA’s statement said.
“Following a request for an extension of the deadline from both sides to submit their positions, which was duly approved by FIFA, more time is needed to complete this process with due care and thoroughness,” the statement added.
FIFA mentioned that the assessment would be shared with the FIFA Council for any subsequent decision no later than August 31st.
Accordingly, Israel’s football team can participate in the Paris Olympic Games, set to begin on July 26th.
In May, during the 74th Congress in Bangkok, the president of the Palestinian Football Association, Jibril Rajoub, called for the urgent suspension of Israel from the world’s governing body for football.
“How much more must the Palestinian football family endure for FIFA to act with the same seriousness and urgency as in other cases? Does FIFA believe some wars are more important than others, and some victims more significant?” Rajoub asked.
Violating a United Nations (UN) Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire, Israel faced international condemnation amid its ongoing brutal offensive on Gaza since Hamas’s attack on October 7th, which killed 38.848 Palestinians.
More than nine months after the start of Israeli attacks, large parts of Gaza are in ruins.
Israel has been accused of genocide before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which recently ordered Israel to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians sought refuge from the war before being attacked on May 6th.
