The United Nations (UN) have issued a statement calling on FIFA and UEFA to ban Israel ahead of the upcoming 2026 World Cup.
In just nine months the biggest competition in football returns as the 2026 World Cup will kick off across the United States of America, Mexico and Canada.
As it stands, only 18 of the 48 countries that are set compete in the tournament have actually qualified, with the remaining participants set to be determined in the coming months.
But as it the World Cup gets closer and closer, both FIFA and UEFA have faced increasing pressure to ban Isreal from competing, with Euro 2024 winners Spain even threatening to boycott the World Cup should Israel qualify.
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And now, the football governing bodies have been sent perhaps their clearest warning yet regarding Isreal's participation in the World Cup as the UN have spoken out.
In a statement released on the United Nations official website, a group of experts called on FIFA and UEFA to suspend Israel as a country team from international football.
It states that doing so is 'a necessary response to address the ongoing genocide in the occupied Palestinian territory,' and a ban should be put in place immediately.
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The statement reads: "The conclusion of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel, that Israel is committing genocide is the latest in a growing number of international bodies affirming that genocide is being committed in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
“Sports must reject the perception that it is business as usual,” they said. “Sporting bodies must not turn a blind eye to grave human rights violations, especially when their platforms are used to normalise injustices.”
The statement continued: "National teams representing States that commit massive human rights violations can and should be suspended, as has happened in the past.
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“Once again, we urge FIFA to stop legitimising the situation arising from Israel’s unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
“There is a legal and moral imperative to take every measure possible to end the genocide in Gaza now.”
A recent UN commission of inquiry said there are grounds to believe that four of five genocidal acts under international law, have been carried out by Israel in Gaza. Israel's foreign ministry later rejected the report, describing it as 'distorted and false'.
More than 65,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Topics: FIFA, UEFA, FIFA World Cup, Football World Cup
Ben McCrum