Fifa stops short of suspending Israel FA but orders investigation into possible discrimination

Fifa also orders separate investigation into participation in Israeli competitions of Israeli football teams allegedly based in the territory of Palestine

The Palestinian Football Association has for the past decade lobbied Fifa to take action against the Israeli FA for incorporating teams from West Bank settlements in its leagues. AFP

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Fifa has asked for a disciplinary investigation into possible discrimination by the Israel Football Association after rejecting Palestinian calls to suspend the organisation.

A Fifa panel overseeing governance will separately investigate the participation in Israeli competitions of Israeli football teams allegedly based in the territory of Palestine, the world governing body's ruling council said.

The Palestinian Football Association has for the past decade lobbied Fifa to take action against the Israeli FA for incorporating teams from West Bank settlements in its leagues.

The compromise decisions came more than four months after Palestinian officials had urged Fifa to suspend Israel's membership at a meeting in May.

The request to Fifa's congress in May also cited “international law violations" in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas conflict and directed the governing body to its statutory commitments on human rights and against discrimination.

Fifa delayed making a decision in May until after a legal review scheduled for July, then pushed back the issue two more times until a meeting of its 37-member Council on Thursday.

“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,” Fifa president Gianni Infantino said in a statement.

The latest process follows a pattern of Palestinian requests for Fifa to uphold its legal rules and the question then being steered toward ad hoc panels and other committees.

Fifa gave no timetable Thursday for the investigations it has now requested.

Supporters of the Palestinian campaign have criticised Fifa for not following its decision in 2022 to suspend Russian national teams from its competitions within days of the military invasion of Ukraine. European football body Uefa also removed Russian teams.

In the case of Israel, which has been a member of Uefa for 30 years, no European federation has refused to play its national or clubs teams. Israeli teams have played home games in neutral countries such as Hungary and Cyprus for security reasons since the Hamas attacks one year ago.

The Palestinian men's national team is currently playing in the Asian qualifying programme for the 2026 World Cup, hosting Jordan three weeks ago in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The team next plays at Iraq on October 10 and hosts Kuwait five days later in Doha, Qatar.