As the international football community gathers for the upcoming FIFA Congress on May 15, a crude moral and legal question confronts the sport’s leaders: Should a nation accused of committing genocide, apartheid, and violence against civilians in a systematic manner be allowed to remain a member of FIFA?
FIFA, football’s world governing body, is guided by a system of statutes that are based on universal values. At the heart of it is Article 3 of the FIFA Statutes, which states:
“FIFA is dedicated to the respect of all human rights universally recognised and shall endeavor to contribute to the protection of such rights.”
This is not a rhetorical clause — it is a binding legal requirement that should be upheld by all member associations, including Israel. Nevertheless, Israel’s ongoing membership is in open defiance of this law since the widely reported atrocities it stands accused of having committed against the Palestinian people render it ineligible under this law.
Article 3 of the FIFA Statutes: Fifa Condoning Israel’s Harsh Behaviour
Article 3 is the test of FIFA’s ethical conscience. By silently condoning Israel’s behavior and demanding it remain a member, FIFA erodes its own founding principles and risks being complicit in covering up crimes increasingly identified by the international community as genocide and apartheid.
Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the United Nations have all chronicled Israel’s systematic violations of Palestinian rights, including:
- Unsynchronized attacks on civilian targets in Gaza
- Forced displacement of families through settler expansion
- Military occupation of the West Bank
- Ethnic apartheid and separation policies both within Israel and in the Occupied Territories
These are not mere policy divergences — they represent major violations of international law and manifestly violate the human rights which FIFA claims to uphold.
Why Israel’s FIFA Membership is a Form of Sportswashing
By allowing Israel to participate in international football competitions, FIFA is granting it a powerful sportswashing mechanism — the application of sport to sanitize or deflect from state repression and human rights abuses.
By competing in tournaments and staging matches, Israel gains an international stage to portray itself as a “normal” country, one that supposedly upholds the virtues of fair play and human decency. This is directly undermined by the brutal reality of:
- Kids bombed in homes and schools
- Reporters and medics attacked
- The blockade of Gaza turning it into what human rights experts have called an “open-air prison”
When FIFA gives Israel the luxury of association, it dilutes Palestinian agony, shields Israel from global condemnation, and essentially betrays its victims.
FIFA Ignoring Israel’s Genocide
In January 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) determined that there is a likelihood that Israel is engaged in genocidal violence against Palestinians in Gaza. Consistent with international law, including the Genocide Convention, the obligation to prevent and prosecute genocide falls on all states and institutions.
FIFA, being an international organization with a legal and ethical mandate, can’t do anything else. Allowing Israel to keep playing — as the world is seeing atrocities live — makes FIFA party to the whitewashing of such crimes.
The world saw this kind of complicity before when South Africa had been suspended from FIFA in 1961 due to its apartheid government. That suspension was only revoked in 1992, after apartheid was abolished. What is the precedent that this sets? That FIFA should and can act against states that violate its basic principles.
Israel’s Genocide Directly Contravenes FIFA’s Article 3
FIFA Article 3 demands respect and encouragement of human rights embraced globally. However, Israel’s ongoing genocide of Gaza citizens — mass killing of civilians, demolition of homes, hospitals, and schools — is in blatant violation of this mandate. Targeting and uprooting millions of Palestinians under an apartheid and occupation policy, Israel has abandoned all moral and legal norms. FIFA’s ongoing engagement with Israel not only violates its own legislation but also allows sportswashing of atrocities. Genocidal governments cannot be legitimised through international sport. FIFA must act immediately and suspend Israel.
Double Standards and Hypocrisy
FIFA has never hesitated to take a political stance when it deemed it necessary. For example:
- Russia was excluded from international football following an invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
- Yugoslavia was excluded in the 1990s for its involvement in the Balkans wars.
Political brutality and human rights abuses were the grounds for action in these cases. Why, then, is Israel treated differently?
The message that FIFA sends by accepting Israel’s continued participation is that other people’s lives are less valuable than others’ lives, and political convenience triumphs over justice. This double standard cannot be defended for any organization which claims to uphold fairness and equality.
What Can You Do? Take Action Before May 15
As the 74th FIFA Congress approaches, football fans, human rights activists, and ethical citizens have an important part to play. It’s an advocacy moment of truth — and your voice matters.
You can make a difference by contacting:
- The UK Football Associations (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland)
- The FIFA President Gianni Infantino
- The FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura
- Call upon them to vote for a motion to suspend Israel’s FIFA membership until it is in total compliance with international law and human rights standards.
Tell them: Football cannot be blind to genocide.
A Game Without Justice Is a Game Lost
Football is more than a sport. It is a worldwide brotherhood bound together by shared principles. But the principles are worthless if they are not rigidly enforced.
Israel’s continued FIFA membership is a violation of Article 3 of its own laws and amounts to a moral failure in the face of unimaginable suffering. It allows a regime of apartheid and genocide to clean up its act on the international front, while Palestinian players, fans, and families are deprived not only of rights but often of life itself.
