🔗 Share this article

The Football Association of Ireland has voted in favor to present a official proposal to European football's governing body, demanding the exclusion of Israel from all European team and national tournaments.

Grounds for the Proposed Ban

This motion, that had been proposed by Irish side Bohemians, cited alleged breaches by the IFA of two important Uefa statutes.

• Failure to apply and uphold an effective policy against racism.
• Organisation of football teams in occupied Palestinian territories lacking the consent of the Palestinian Football Association.

Ballot Results and Next Steps

According to an official statement from the FAI, the resolution was backed by 74 votes, with 7 opposed and 2 not voting.

They intends to formally submit this motion to the UEFA's decision-making body, asking for the immediate suspension of the Israel Football Association from Uefa competitions.

During a special assembly of the FAI, an standard motion was put to members. It passed by a large margin.

Earlier European Considerations

The European body had previously put on hold plans to ban Israeli football at the close of last month, following the announcement of Donald Trump's proposed peace plan for the area.

While Uefa never publicly stated contemplating an special session on the issue, plans were understood to be quite advanced.

International Backdrop

This Irish move follows comparable calls in September from the leaders of Turkish and Norwegian governing bodies for Israel's suspension from global football.

These appeals were issued after United Nations experts asked world and European football bodies to suspend Israel, citing a UN commission of inquiry report that claimed Israel of committing genocide during the war in Gaza.

Israel has rejected these claims and described the findings as outrageous.

Possible Consequences

If European football's authority choose to ban Israel, it would likely strain relations with the United States government – co-hosts for the upcoming World Cup – which is firmly against such an action.

Although Uefa has the authority to exclude Israeli teams from European competitions, it might not be able to prevent them from taking part in World Cup qualifiers, which falls under world football's governing body.