Fans, activists, managers and players have repeatedly voiced criticism over Israel’s participation in international football [Getty/file photo]
Game Over Israel is urging Europe’s football governing body, UEFA, to ban Israeli football players and teams from competing internationally, following Israel’s genocide in the Gaza Strip and continued occupation of the West Bank.
The campaign group said they officially handed over a letter co-signed by 70 sporting figures and other notable pro-Palestinian organisations to UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin in London on Tuesday.
The letter’s signatories include The Hind Rajab Foundation, Athletes 4 Peace, and the Gaza Tribunal, as well as ex-Manchester United French footballer Paul Pogba, Crystal Palace’s Chadi Riad, and Norwegian player Mathias Normann.
The letter stressed that UEFA should “fulfil its legal and moral responsibilities” given the atrocities Israel has carried out in the West Bank and Gaza recently.
The letter cited the UN officially confirming that Israel was committing a genocide against Gaza’s Palestinians, the International Court of Justice declaring Israel’s presence in the West Bank illegal in July last year, and the participation of Israeli footballers from illegal settlements in European football, which breaches international law.
Game Over Israel said they were “deeply disturbed by the lack of moral action taken by UEFA to suspend Israel from European football” despite the widespread campaigns, protests, and global outrage at Israel’s atrocities.
“No shared venue, stage, or arena in international civil society should welcome a regime that commits genocide, apartheid, and other crimes against humanity. Israel’s impunity for such crimes will only be ended by the weight of collective conscientious action, including measures to block their entry to sporting or cultural events and activities.”
The organisation also stressed that Ceferin “risks severing football from its heart and soul by allowing those who would destroy their own humanity and that of others” to compete in the sport.
Game Over Israel Campaign Director Ashish Prashar also pointed to Ceferin’s home country Slovenia’s decision to bar Benjamin Netanyahu from entering, in accordance with the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant issued for the Israeli premier, urging him to make a similar call concerning Israeli footballers and clubs.
Game Over Israel also noted action taken by UEFA in the past to suspend countries which had breached international law from competition. This has included apartheid South Africa, and the now-former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Russia is the most recent country to be suspended by UEFA, in response to Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
“We urge you to follow international law and moral precedent and suspend Israel immediately.”
‘No one wants to play against Israel’
Speaking to The New Arab, Prashar revealed that Game Over Israel’s push to get UEFA to suspend Israel was close to coming to fruition, but US President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza, drafted on 29 September, “pulled the rug” from a possible ban.
He said UEFA was scheduled to take a vote on the matter the day after.
Despite the setback, Prashar stressed that Game Over Israel will continue to push harder to get the team banned from European competitions. It said it assisted West Midlands Police before issuing a ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending a UEFA Europa League game against Aston Villa earlier this month, by providing reports and evidence from lawyers on the Israeli team’s fans’ conduct.
He also said that banning Israel serves the sport’s best interests, given the level of outrage in Europe over the war in Gaza, including from football players and fans.
“UEFA is launching the European Championships 2028 in London, and Israel is in the pot, and no one wants to play them. The fans, pitches, and stadiums don’t want to host people committing a genocide,” Prashar said.
He told TNA that European countries “will not want to deal” with the bureaucracy and security personnel needed to police events when Israeli teams are hosted.
Additionally, no country “will want to give up a home game in favour of a neutral ground” for security reasons when playing against Israel.
Prashar echoed Game Over Israel’s letter, stressing that Ceferin “should listen to fans’ demands” and vote to ban Israel, “as he’s the one person who can make a call on this decision”.
“The more you keep Israel in football right now, the more you’re saying football is okay with ethnic cleansing, apartheid, and genocide.”
Game Over Israel rose to prominence earlier this year after their ad in New York’s Times Square calling for Israel to be suspended from the sport and accusing it of genocide went viral. The organisation’s ad also appeared in The LA Times and in the Italian city of Milan.
The Palestine Football Federation has also called tor he sport’s global governing body, FIFA, to take action on Israel’s participation in football since the outbreak of the war in 2023, but to no avail.
Throughout the war in Gaza, Israel has killed over 69,000 Palestinians, including over 420 footballers.
