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“Play allows children to express their emotions and alleviate the tension and fear resulting from the war,” said Tamara Awartani of Palestine Sports for Life. <\/p>\n
John Wessels \/ Keystone <\/p>\n
Switzerland is giving FIFA money to build football pitches in Palestine as \u201csafe spaces\u201d for children. Amid continued violence in the region, some wonder whether this is the best way to meet young people\u2019s most urgent needs.\n<\/p>\n
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April 21, 2026 – 09:00\n<\/p>\n
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\n Reporter specialised in Swiss foreign affairs, with a side hustle as a sub-editor in the English Department.
\nPreviously my focus was on disinformation and fact-checks, which I still produce occasionally. <\/p>\n
When a group of world leaders met in Washington in February to talk about Gaza at US President Donald Trump\u2019s newly created Board of Peace, they were treated to a short video. In it, a shiny new football stadium rises from the ashes of shelled-out buildings as the narrator declares: \u201cA simple ball. A shared field. A reason to believe again.\u201d<\/p>\n With that, football world governing body FIFA announced plans to raise $75 million and buildExternal link<\/a> 50 mini- and five full-sized pitches, a national stadium and a football academy in the war-ravaged territory. Investing in the sport, FIFA president Gianni Infantino told delegates, would help \u201cthe recovery process\u201d.<\/p>\n Just a few months earlier, with less fanfare, the organisation had revealed another initiative, this one in partnership with Switzerland<\/a>, to build ten mini pitches in Palestine and Israel.<\/p>\n These \u201csafe spaces\u201d, the foreign ministry told Swissinfo, will make a \u201cconcrete contribution to improving everyday life for children and youth\u201d. With financing worth CHF60,000 (about $76,500) per pitch, it is the ministry\u2019s first such partnership with FIFA, and one that some experts believe can offer benefits.<\/p>\n \u201cMini pitches are not merely places to play \u2013 they are safe havens providing psychological and social support,\u201d said Tamara Awartani, director of Gaza-based NGO Palestine Sports for Life. These spaces, she explained, can allow children to vent stress caused by conflict, form friendships and experience joy.<\/p>\n Connor Spreng, who heads the Swiss Academy for Development (SA4D), a non-profit that offers sports and play-based programmes for children, agreed. But he cautioned that, to succeed, such a project \u201chas to consider the context carefully\u201d.<\/p>\n The situation in Palestine is complex. FIFA has come under fire for allowing Israeli football clubs to play on land seized from Palestinians in the West Bank. In Gaza, violence continues despite a ceasefire agreed in October, while humanitarian NGOs struggle to maintain a presence amid Israeli government restrictions.<\/p>\n \u2018Safety is most important thing\u2019<\/p>\n FIFA reportedly approached Switzerland about funding the mini pitches last summer. The foreign ministry said it undertakes \u201cthorough risk assessments\u201d for projects, and the likelihood of benefits for local kids outweighed potential harms.<\/p>\n \n More<\/p>\n More <\/p>\n Humanitarian aid\n <\/p>\n Why is so little aid getting into Gaza? <\/p>\n This content was published on <\/p>\n Jan 7, 2026 <\/p>\n The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, signed in October, ended two years of war in the Gaza Strip. Aid to Gaza has increased but is still far from enough, say UN organisations and NGOs. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Read more: Why is so little aid getting into Gaza? Yet ahead of the agreement with FIFA, internal emails obtained by Swiss public radio RTSExternal link<\/a> showed dissenting voices within the ministry.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the current context, the odds of making a positive contribution to children are weak, especially given their needs are urgent,\u201d one staffer wrote. \u201cTo organise a football tournament while violent settlers run Palestinians off their olive farms just makes no sense \u2013 our involvement would send the wrong signal,\u201d wrote another.<\/p>\n Deadly attacks have persisted in Gaza despite the ceasefire. Up to 90% of the population are displaced, while according to Awartani, only a little over 10% of sports infrastructure remains standing after two years of war between Hamas and Israel.<\/p>\n Yarmouk Sports Stadium in Gaza City, which previously hosted football matches, was damaged during the war and is now a makeshift shelter for thousands of displaced Palestinians. <\/p>\n Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. <\/p>\n In the West Bank, where the first two pitches are reportedly already being built, the Israeli government continues to expand unlawful settlements and settler violenceExternal link<\/a> is growing. Tens of thousands of Palestinians are being displaced amid \u201crelentless harassment, intimidation, and destruction of homes and farmland,\u201d the United Nations reported. Israel has blamedExternal link<\/a> these attacks on a \u201cfringe minority\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cSafety is the most important thing, and putting up a pitch doesn\u2019t mean that children will be able to go safely,\u201d said Tom\u00e1\u0161 Bokor, Palestine country director for child-focused Swiss NGO Terre des Hommes, who noted that schools and infrastructure have come under attack.<\/p>\n The foreign ministry declined to say where the mini pitches will be located, although documents seen by RTS indicate the first two sites are in Tulkarem in the northern West Bank and Wadi Al-Nis in the south. The project has faced delays due to the security situation, but the other eight are expected to be completed next year.<\/p>\n The area in and around Tulkarem has so far this year seen Palestinian shepherds attacked by settlersExternal link<\/a>, refugees displacedExternal link<\/a> by the extension of a military order, and a pipe bomb factory discovered by the Israeli army, according to the UN and local media reports.<\/p>\n A secondary school near Nablus, West Bank, suffered fire damage after an attack by Israeli settlers in early January, the Wafa news agency reported. <\/p>\n Keystone <\/p>\n Besides safety, Spreng of SA4D said the project should ensure future viability: \u201cWe must ask about longer-term ownership and community involvement, in order to avoid abandoned pitches. Who is responsible for repairs [for example]?\u201d<\/p>\n In response, the foreign ministry said local authorities and national football associations will ensure sustainability and monitoring.<\/p>\n \u2018A public relations exercise\u2019<\/p>\n Switzerland\u2019s project partner, FIFA, is itself mired in controversy in the region. In February, a coalition of advocacy groups named Infantino in a criminal complaintExternal link<\/a> at the International Criminal Court. The groups allege he is \u201caiding war crimes and crimes against humanity\u201d by allowing Israeli football clubs \u201cbased in illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian territory\u201d to play in Israeli leagues and supporting them financially.<\/p>\n \n More<\/p>\n More <\/p>\n Inside SWI\n <\/p>\n Our newsletter on geopolitics <\/p>\n Switzerland in a fast-moving world. Join us to follow the latest Swiss foreign policy developments. We offer the perfect immersive package. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Read more: Our newsletter on geopolitics This practice, they claim, \u201clegitimises Israel\u2019s illegal occupation of Palestine\u201d. Palestinians, they note, are banned as spectators, players or managers of these clubs.<\/p>\n In March, FIFA finedExternal link<\/a> the Israeli Football Association CHF150,000 for racism and discrimination following complaints from the Palestinian Football Association. But it declined to slap sanctions over the settler clubs, claiming the \u201cfinal legal status of the West Bank remains an unresolved [\u2026] matter under public international law\u201d. Israel argues these are disputed lands, but the International Court of JusticeExternal link<\/a> and most of the international community regard Israeli settlements as illegal under international law.<\/p>\n When asked about the complaints, the Swiss foreign ministry said it would not comment on the football body\u2019s decisions but \u201cwelcomed all efforts to eliminate racism and other forms of discrimination\u201d. FIFA, which is headquartered in Zurich, did not immediately respond to Swissinfo\u2019s inquiries.<\/p>\n Nick McGeehan, director of FairSquare, a London-based NGO on rights and sport, called the Swiss-FIFA partnership \u201ca notable but \u2013 in my view \u2013 deeply problematic initiative\u201d.<\/p>\n \n More<\/p>\n More <\/p>\n Switzerland remains centre of global sport \u2013 for now <\/p>\n This content was published on <\/p>\n Mar 23, 2025 <\/p>\n Despite decades of corruption scandals, international sporting federations remain concentrated in Switzerland. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Read more: Switzerland remains centre of global sport \u2013 for now The project \u201cis very much a public relations exercise\u201d to deflect from pressure over the settler clubs, he argued. \u201cThis was a way for FIFA to say in the aftermath of the ceasefire that it was doing something to address the conflict in non-political terms.\u201d<\/p>\n McGeehan, whose organisation filed an unrelated ethics complaintExternal link<\/a> with FIFA against Infantino for allegedly breaching the body\u2019s political neutrality, pointed out FIFA\u2019s finances are substantial enough to fund this initiative on its own.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy is the Swiss government providing money to an organisation that has billions in reserves and already benefits from tax breaks in Switzerland?\u201d he said. \u201cFIFA provides millions to its member associations every year, and part of that money is there to do stuff like provide pitches.\u201d<\/p>\n Switzerland and FIFA <\/p>\n Switzerland\u2019s partnership with FIFA to build mini pitches is part of the Alpine country\u2019s CHF23 million humanitarian assistance package for Gaza, announced in November. FIFA has a goal to install 1,000 mini pitches around the world by 2030. Between March-November 2025, it inaugurated 30 mini pitches in 15 countries.<\/p>\n The world football governing body has its headquarters in Zurich, where it is registered as a non-profit association that serves the public interest. Such associations are exempt from corporate tax if they reinvest their income into their statutory purpose, which in FIFA\u2019s case is the promotion of football around the world.<\/p>\n FIFA had a total of $2.7 billion in reserves at the end of 2025, and stands to makeExternal link<\/a> some $11 billion from the 2026 World Cup. Its mini pitches are usually financed by host countries and their national football associations, RTS reported, and rarely by a third donor, as in the Swiss scheme.<\/p>\n Acute humanitarian needs<\/p>\n As Switzerland and FIFA eye mini pitches, the humanitarian needs of Palestinians remain acuteExternal link<\/a> and include essentials such as emergency shelter. <\/p>\n But NGOs are struggling to meet these. They face new registration rules, including the obligation to share the personal data of all Palestinian staff with Israeli authorities. Over a dozen leading international NGOs, including Terre des Hommes, have refused to do this, fearing it would put them in breach of data protection laws in donor countries such as Switzerland, Bokor explained. They\u2019re also concerned for the staff themselves, whose safety he said Israel has refused to guarantee.<\/p>\n Inside one of Terre des Hommes\u2019 temporary learning spaces in Al-Fajr camp, Al-Mawasi, Khan Younis, earlier this year. <\/p>\n Terre des hommes\/Majdi Fathi <\/p>\n Access restrictions are also impeding NGOs. Half-a-million dollars\u2019 worth of cargo for Terre des Hommes funded by the European Union and Switzerland has sat in Cairo for over a year, after Israeli authorities rejected multiple requests for it to enter Gaza. The cargo contains hygiene kits and supplies for its support activities for children, such as colouring books, pencils and toys.<\/p>\n For the equivalent of CHF120,000 \u2013 the price of two mini pitches \u2013 Terre des Hommes could set up ten of its temporary learning spaces for 1,000 children for a six-month period, Bokor said.<\/p>\n \u201cPalestinians are eager for their children to learn but they are being systematically denied these opportunities,\u201d he said. By June 2025, 84 schools faced demolition orders in the West Bank, the UN reported. In occupied East Jerusalem, six UNRWA schools closed last year, affecting hundreds of students.<\/p>\n \u201cIn principle, it\u2019s good to provide safe spaces for children,\u201d Bokor added. \u201cIs building mini pitches going to achieve that in the West Bank?\u201d<\/p>\n
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