October 4 – Just when it looked like FIFA might finally take a giant courageous leap by siding with the Palestinian cause in the Middle East, procrastination was again the name of the game.
FIFA’s all-powerful Council stopped short of meeting a Palestinian request to suspend Israel on Thursday, instead opting for a compromise by launching an investigation into allegations of discrimination.
How long such an investigation will take and what its conclusion might be is anyone’s guess. In the meantime, conflicts rage on in Gaza and Lebanon.
At FIFA’s congress in Bangkok in May, the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) called for its Israeli counterpart to be suspended and for Israeli teams to be banned from FIFA competitions over the destruction of Gaza.
Since then there have been all manner of delays with FIFA finally confirming last month the matter would be discussed on Thursday when it was on the Council agenda.
It duly was addressed, with the Council adopting the recommendations and conclusions reached in a legal review of the case. It decided that FIFA’s disciplinary committee would be mandated to investigate the alleged offence of discrimination.
At the same time the FIFA governance, audit and compliance committee “will be entrusted with the mission to investigate – and subsequently advise the FIFA Council on – the participation in Israeli competitions of Israeli football teams allegedly based in the territory of Palestine.”
FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in a statement: “The FIFA Council has implemented due diligence on this very sensitive matter and, based on a thorough assessment, we have followed the advice of the independent experts.
“The ongoing violence in the region confirms that, above all considerations… we need peace.
“As we remain extremely shocked by what is happening, and our thoughts are with those who are suffering, we urge all parties to restore peace to the region with immediate effect.”
Ahead of…
Source link : https://www.insideworldfootball.com/2024/10/04/fifa-kicks-potential-landmark-ruling-israels-suspension-rubble-gaza/
Author : Paul Nicholson
Publish date : 2024-10-04 13:31:39
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.