🔗 Share this article

Ireland's football governing body has given the green light to present a official proposal to European football's governing body, demanding the banning of Israel from all European team and national tournaments.

Basis of the Proposed Ban

This motion, which was put forward by Irish side Bohemians, highlighted claimed breaches by the IFA of a couple of key Uefa statutes.

• Inability to implement and enforce an effective anti-racism policy.
• Organisation of football teams in occupied Palestinian territories without the approval of the Palestinian Football Association.

Ballot Results and Next Steps

According to an announcement from the FAI, the resolution was supported by 74 votes, with seven opposed and two not voting.

They plans to formally submit this request to the Uefa executive committee, seeking the immediate suspension of the Israel Football Association from Uefa competitions.

During a special assembly of the Football Association of Ireland, an standard motion was posed to members. It passed by a majority.

Earlier European Deliberations

The European body had previously put on hold plans to ban Israel at the end of September, following the revealing of Donald Trump's proposed peace plan for the region.

While they never officially confirmed contemplating an extraordinary meeting on the matter, plans were understood to be quite advanced.

International Context

The FAI move comes after comparable calls in September from the leaders of both Turkey and Norway's football associations for Israel's suspension from international competition.

Those requests were made after United Nations experts urged world and European football bodies to ban Israel, referencing a UN investigation that accused Israel of acts of genocide during the war in Gaza.

Israel has rejected these allegations and labeled the findings as outrageous.

Potential Ramifications

If Uefa choose to ban the IFA, it would likely strain relations with the US administration – co-hosts for the 2026 World Cup – which is firmly against such an measure.

Although Uefa has the authority to exclude Israeli teams from its tournaments, it may not be able to stop them from taking part in World Cup qualifiers, which is governed by Fifa.