The UEFA prepares a vote on Israel’s suspension. At the same time, the US government puts pressure on FIFA in the same question not to make such a decision.
As the British media “The Times” and “Sky” unanimously report, the UEFA Executive Committee will meet in the coming week to coordinate Israel’s suspension, whereby there should be a majority for the sanction. According to information from the Sportschau, however, an officially set is not yet scheduled.
DFB Vice President Hans-Joachim Watzke is a member of the committee, the DFB always supported itself for Israel. At the request of the sports show, the DFB announced: “The DFB will not comment on speculation. The attitude of the DFB to the state of Israel is known.” Israel’s President Moshe Zuares is also a member of the Executive Committee, and was elected to the committee in April at the UEFA Congress in Belgrade with 31 out of 55 possible votes. The UEFA and the Israeli association are asked by the sports show for statements.
Moshe Zuares, President of the Israeli Association at the FIFA Congress 2024
So far, neither UEFA nor FIFA have imposed sanctions against Israel. For security reasons, Israel is not allowed to play home games on its own territory, the games usually take place in Hungary.
The mood in the UEFA turned last
In the course of the Gaza War, the pressure on sport increases against Israel. A Commission in the UN Human Rights Council demanded that Israel should be excluded from participating in international football events. It called on the World Association FIFA and the UEFA to take the appropriate steps.
So far, UEFA supported its member Israel, but the mood recently turned noticeably. At the UEFA Supercup in Udine, Italy between Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham Hotspur, the UEFA rolled out a large banner on the square, at the stand: “Hearing to kill children! Hearing to kill civilians!”
UEFA banner in Udine: “Listen to kill children – stop killing civilians”
Israel was not given specifically. The UEFA made it clear that Israel’s attacks were meant on the Gaza Strip. In addition to UEFA President Cefer, two refugee children were allowed to stand out of the Gaza Strip at the award ceremony. In addition, before the game, the UEFA announced that it would support three aid projects for children in Gaza with its foundation. Uefa President Aleksander Ceferin recently spoke about the topic in the Slovenian TV station RTV SLO. Israel may continue to play, said Ceferin: “This is our decision for the time being.” That could change now.
The Israeli newspaper “Israel Hayom” reported on Katar’s influence on the UEFA. As head of the club association ECA, the Qatarian official Nasser al-Khelaifi is one of the most influential personalities in European football. The state airline “Qatar Airways” and the tourism authority “Visit Qatar” have been sponsors of UEFA for years.
Sponsors from Qatar were omnipresent at the 2024 European Championships in Germany.
The Gaza War
On October 7, 2023, the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas committed a large -scale attack on Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and numerous others were dragged into the Gaza strips. To date, around 50 hostages are dead or alive in the violence of Hamas.
Israel reacted with a military retaliation offensive to destroy the structures of Hamas. According to the Gaza Ministry of Health controlled by the Hamas, more than 67,000 people were killed. Large parts of the buildings and the infrastructure in the Gaza Strip are destroyed, the location of the civilian population is considered catastrophic.
A UN Commission accuses Israel of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip. Israel rejects this and has now started a soil offensive to take Gazastadt.
FIFA: Palestinian Application without a decision that USA is putting pressure
There is another process in FIFA: The Palestinian Association in May 2024 in the FIFA Congress with an application requested the suspension of Israel, but hardly referred to the Gaza War. The details are primarily about the accusation of illegal game operations in the Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The FIFA was therefore given the politically delicate task of drawing the borders on one of the most controversial maps on earth.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino assigned the topic to the FIFA Council. The FIFA Council commissioned a legal analysis in early October 2024. When the FIFA “Governance, Audit and Compliance Commission” of the FIFA was commissioned in October 2024, the “Governance, Audit and Compliance Commission” was commissioned. In May 2025, that commission was re-compiled at the FIFA Congress and was given time to “familiarize himself”. A decision is still open today.
And this decision is now influenced by the USA. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs led by Marco Rubio wants to intervene directly. The British broadcaster Sky News quotes a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry with the words: “We will work with all the attempts to completely prevent all attempts to exclude the Israeli national soccer team from the World Cup.” The United States is currently the most important business partner of FIFA, after the 2025 club World Cup, most of the World Cup takes place there in 2026. FIFA President Infantino often shows himself alongside US President Donald Trump. The International Olympic Committee, which was organizing the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028, already rejected sanctions against Israel.
US President Donald Trump (left) with FIFA President Gianni Infantino
Europa League: Maccabi Tel Aviv intended as a guest of Stuttgart and Freiburg
This is how an imbalance could occur: If Israeli teams were blocked at the UEFA level, they should no longer play in the Europa League that has long been running. Maccabi Tel Aviv is a guest at VfB Stuttgart (December 11th) and SC Freiburg (January 22, 2026).
At the same time, they could possibly continue playing at the FIFA level, for example in the World Cup qualification in the upcoming international play window in Norway (October 11) and Italy (October 14). In his group, Israel is behind the loss -free Norwegians and Italy.
Maccabi Tel Aviv is to play in the Europa League in Stuttgart and Freiburg.
Spain draws comparison to Russia
The Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez recently called for an exclusion of Israeli athletes and compared the situation with Russia, which caused outrageous reactions from Israeli politics. However, Russia’s teams have never been suspended against Ukraine because of the war war, but because a two -digit number of countries had announced a boycott. “For security reasons” and to “maintain the smooth running of the game operation”, Russian team were officially suspended. There is no such boycott threat to Israel, at least in European football. Norway, the association of which was recently an open dispute with Israel’s association, will play against Israel in the World Cup qualification game.
Norway’s Erling Haaland (right) with Israel’s Dor Peretz (left) and goalkeeper Daniel Peretz at the first leg in Debrecen
If there is actually a vote in UEFA, a technical reason is also expected. Because if associations evaluate a war politically and morally, they could face the same question at the next conflict. The reports of “The Times” and “Sky” do not show whether only the Israeli teams are taken out of the competitions in a corresponding decision – as is the case with Russia – or whether the whole association is suspended.