A group of 30 legal experts, including two former UN special rapporteurs, has sent an unprecedented letter to FIFA, stating that the Israeli Football Association (IFA) is in breach of international law and the governing body’s own statutes by holding matches in occupied Palestinian territory.
The letter comes as FIFA continues to deliberate over a proposal submitted by the Palestine Football Association (PFA) in March 2024, which calls for sanctions against the IFA.
The signatories, which include prominent figures such as Israeli historian Ilan Pappe and former UN special rapporteurs Michael Lynk and John Dugard, argue that the legality of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank is not in question under international law. They cite a 2024 International Court of Justice (ICJ) opinion and multiple UN Security Council resolutions which describe the settlements as a “flagrant violation under international law.”
The experts contend that by allowing Israeli teams to play in these settlements, the IFA is in direct violation of FIFA Statutes, specifically Article 64(2), which states that “Member associations and their clubs may not play on the territory of another member association without the latter’s approval.”
“It speaks to the seriousness of the issue at hand, that academics of this stature would make an intervention like this,” Nicholas McGeehan, founder of the human rights group FairSquare, told Middle East Eye. He added that while the letter doesn’t explicitly demand suspension, it “leaves them in no doubt that that’s what their own rules require them to do.”
The PFA’s complaint also references discrimination within Israeli football and the impact of the war on Gaza, which has seen over 350 Palestinian footballers killed and football infrastructure, like Gaza’s al-Yarmouk stadium, destroyed or repurposed by Israeli forces.
This is a long-standing issue for FIFA. The PFA first filed a complaint about settlement teams in 2013. In 2017, FIFA’s council declined to take action, stating it “must remain neutral with regard to political matters.” In May 2024, FIFA President Gianni Infantino deferred a vote on the PFA’s renewed call for sanctions, instead referring the matter to FIFA’s internal committees for investigation, where it has remained for over a year.
The IFA has previously described the PFA’s request as a “cynical political move.”
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