The Palestinian Football Association (PFA) called for a ban on the Israel Football Association (IFA) on Tuesday after a FIFA report found «multiple breaches» of its anti-discrimination obligations.
“We reserve our right and continue our efforts to ensure that the Israel Football Association is expelled from all international institutions,” PFA chief Jibril Rajoub, who also heads the Palestinian Olympic Committee, said at a news conference in the occupied West Bank city of Al-Bireh.
FIFA last week fined the IFA 150,000 Swiss francs ($190,700) for the violations, “an important decision” according to Rajoub, who said the penalty still “does not meet the minimum required.”
Rajoub cited the “racist nature of the IFA,” the alleged criminal activities of some Israeli sports officials and the inclusion of football clubs from Israeli settlements in the West Bank into the Israeli federation as grounds for a ban.
A recent report from the disciplinary committee of world football’s governing body found that the IFA «failed to take meaningful action against Beitar Jerusalem» due to «persistent and well-documented racist behavior».
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Rajoub, who is also secretary general of the central committee of Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas’s Fatah party, said on Tuesday that Beitar Jerusalem is «an extreme example of racism, fascism and discrimination» but that such attitudes are common among Israeli football clubs.
On the alleged criminal activities of Israeli sports officials, Rajoub said he was referring to cases of players killed during the two-year war in Gaza, and the destruction of many of the Palestinian territory’s sports facilities during the same war.
“Some figures within Israeli sports participated in or openly supported what happened,” Rajoub said, stating that 1,007 athletes and coaches have been killed in Gaza and 265 sports facilities damaged since the war began in October 2023.
At least five football clubs based in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are members of the Israel Football Association.
Following a separate investigation, FIFA announced that no action would be taken against the IFA over allegations that Israeli clubs from the occupied West Bank were participating in Israeli competitions.
The UN has repeatedly condemned Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, as illegal under international law.
Israel is part of UEFA, the governing body of European football.
Published on March 24, 2026
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