Oct 05 2016
FIFA under pressure to sanction Israel for settlement games
By Daoud Kuttab
The world’s leading soccer association is under pressure by the world’s leading human rights organization to live up to its own rules and ethical guidelines.
A well-researched study, which included aerial photos, by Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on Sept. 25 for six clubs of the Israeli Football Association (IFA) to stop playing its home games in soccer fields built on Palestinian lands. Pointing to an Oct. 11 FIFA meeting, HRW described the Israeli actions to be against international humanitarian law.
HRW called settlements “illegal†and said that they are built on “stolen†and “seized†Palestinian lands in the occupied West Bank.
Under the headline “Israel/Palestine: FIFA Sponsoring Games on Seized Land,†the HRW report states that “Israeli settlement football clubs contribute to human rights violations.â€
Palestinian Football Association (PFA) chief Jibril Rajoub wasted little time to jump on the report, saying that FIFA has a responsibility to follow up on the case. Meeting on Sept. 27 with FIFA President Gianni Infantino in India, Rajoub was quoted by the official Palestinian news agency WAFA as saying that FIFA must take steps against IFA, which is clearly violating FIFA laws prohibiting the presence of two associations in the same recognized country. Continue Reading »