Contact FIFA to ask them to suspend Israeli settlement clubs

Please take action now to ensure FIFA is respecting Palestinian rights and international law.

More than one hundred organisations, including Palestine Solidarity Campaign, have called on FIFA to ensure that Israel’s national football league revoke the affiliation of the seven settlement football clubs, or face suspension from FIFA.

Take a minute to write to FIFA, to make sure that it implements its own statutes and human rights policies.

Mr Gianni Infantino, FIFA President

Mr Greg Clarke, Chairman The Football Association

Mr Jim Shaw, President Irish Football Association

Mr David Griffiths, President The Football Association of Wales Ltd

Mr Alan McRae, President, The Scottish Football Association

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Dear FIFA Council Member
I am writing to you as a football fan, concerned with human rights and justice, with regards to the seven clubs* located in illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) that are participating in the official Israeli football league.
I urge you to put human rights before politics and suspend the Israeli settlement clubs.
FIFA has recently published its Agenda for its 67th Congress on 10-11 May. Missing is any reference to Tokyo Sexwale's draft report from the Israel Palestine Monitoring Committee with the option of excluding the seven clubs that are participating in the official Israeli football league while playing in illegal settlements in the OPT. The Palestinian FA has submitted a motion (agenda item 14.3) calling for just that - exclusion of the clubs under the threat of suspension of the Israeli FA from FIFA. I am gravely concerned by the repeated delays that have beset FIFA’s deliberations regarding these clubs, despite crystal clear advice from human rights experts and FIFA’s own statutes. Action is needed now. I note the long-standing stipulation under FIFA Statutes that “Members and their clubs may not play on the territory of another Member without the latter’s approval”, and that FIFA has acted to prevent violations of this rule in the past, for example in Crimea. I worry that failure to enforce it now, in a context of grave human rights abuses, would cause further damage to FIFA’s fragile reputation. I urge you, instead, to continue to apply this rule with scrupulous consistency, and I remind you of the duties of neutrality and non-discrimination enshrined in FIFA’s Code of Ethics. Last October, UN Special Adviser on Sport for Development and Peace Wilfried Lemke wrote to FIFA to urge a resolution of the matter of the settlement clubs, “in line with the United Nations Security Council Resolutions and FIFA Statutes within a reasonable time frame”. I commend his words. I wish to draw your attention in particular to the reaffirmation within UN Security Council Resolution 2334 that the establishment of Israeli settlements in the OPT “has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law”. FIFA itself has a legal obligation to avoid contributing to such violations. The development of FIFA’s own human rights policy has formed an important part of your organisation’s ongoing programme of self-reform, and your Statute No. 3 now reads: “FIFA is committed to respecting all internationally recognised human rights and shall strive to promote the protection of these rights”. This laudable goal will be judged by the extent of its implementation in real-life contexts, where powerful political actors frequently seek to muffle legitimate calls for justice. It will be a tragedy for us all – and a poor commentary on the progress of self-reform at FIFA – if your policy falls at the first hurdle. I urge you to ensure an outcome that is consistent with this renewed commitment. For all these reasons I urge you to insist that the Israel Football Association immediately revoke the affiliation of the seven clubs in question, or else face suspension from membership of FIFA. This is the only course of action that accords with FIFA’s legal and ethical responsibilities.
*Maccabi Ariel (indoor futsal), Ironi Ariel, Beitar Givat Ze’ev Shabi, Beitar Ma’ale Adumim, Hapoel Oranit, Hapoel Bik’at Hayarden, Hapoel Katamon Yerushalaim (primarily located in West Jerusalem but plays some home games in Ma’ale Adumim) – see https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/09/25/israel/palestine-fifa-sponsoring-games-seized-land

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Contact FIFA to ask them to suspend Israeli settlement clubs