Football is always considered a global sport, impacting the whole world. It is one of the only sports that people enjoy in every corner of the world. A boy from Samoa to a teenager in the United States, has a dream, just to represent their town club or city club at a major event. If things go right, maybe playing for their national team as well. The popularity can be scaled as the last World Cup final got more viewership in India than the 2023 World Cup final, despite India being in the final.

Such a beautiful sport has made so many lives better and is still doing so. But if we look at the other side of the coin, things are not much better—the bloodiest and dirtiest side any sport can have. Recently, we witnessed when Russia invaded Ukraine and killed thousands of innocent people. FIFA took strict action and banned Russia from all kinds of football activities. This decision was considered a milestone in sports administration. But when things turned around a few years ago, Israel struck over Palestine, killing thousands of innocent children. Even a few big names related to football got killed, like Suleiman al-Obeid, famous as the Palestinian Pele. FIFA took strict action and just posted a tweet that he is no more.

UEFA and Israel:

In the case of Israel, the scenario is quite different, where many clubs operating from occupied territory are part of UEFA competitions. This wasn’t right; on the other hand, many players were slaughtered by the Israeli army. UEFA did not take any action against such clubs, despite none of these clubs qualifying for any major UEFA competition now. The concern is that no Russian club is allowed due to the war in Ukraine. Israel is also involved in genocide in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran.

International Bodies on Israel:

Human Rights Watch:

Human Rights Watch is one of the biggest advocates for Palestinian players. They have already called on FIFA and UEFA to suspend Israel from all competitions. They have also stated concerns about clubs based in settlements in Gaza.

Amnesty International:

Amnesty International also released detailed documents investigating Israeli policies regarding Palestinian sports involvement. They strongly believe that sports bodies should consider human rights compliance. They often mention Israeli clubs in campaigns in UEFA competitions.

B’Tselem:

B’Tselem is an Israeli NGO that has documented the conditions in the occupied territories. They named their report “Our Genocide,” clearly mentioning how Gaza is affected by mass killings, destruction of infrastructure, forced displacement, and starvation. They also stated that these tactics could be visible in the occupied West Bank.

Al-Haq:

Al-Haq is the most active Palestinian NGO with legal expertise. They are a Palestinian legal team. They have also mentioned these facts at the FIFA Congress level. Following their work for the betterment of players, they got banned or had sanctions imposed.

This scenario highlights how partial FIFA and UEFA can be. They banned one side for attacking a region, and for the past four years, it has been away from football. Even the U17 team was once considered to be part of FIFA events, but failed after facing threats of boycott from other participants. Now, it is considered a possible return for Russia, as the FIFA president said the goals were not achieved. It is unacceptable that FIFA has already damaged Russian football significantly, and now they are saying the goals were not achieved. On the other hand, neither FIFA nor UEFA is ready to take action against those involved in the bloodshed of innocent people. Their clubs are playing in UEFA competitions as well as in World Cup qualifiers.