Should FIFA take action against the teams, Israel would have to comply or risk suspension or the elimination of the entire Israeli football league from FIFA.
Israel hopes to thwart a Palestinian bid to oust or suspend its football league from the Fédération Internationale de Football Association.
A joint Israeli-Palestinian monitoring committee headed by former South African government minister Tokyo Sexwale is set to meet in Bahrain on Tuesday to determine if the issue should move forward to a meeting of the 67th FIFA Congress, the world football organization’s top decision-making body, this Thursday.
At issue are six Israeli football clubs based in the West Bank. FIFA recognizes Palestine as one of its 211 member states. The Palestinian Football Association, headed by Jibril Rajoub, has insisted that, according to FIFA bylaws, one league can’t make use of land that belongs to the country of another’s league.
Meanwhile, the Israel Football Association maintains that the application of the bylaw to the West Bank teams would put FIFA in the position of determining Israel’s borders, which is beyond its purview.
Should FIFA take action against the teams, Israel would have to comply or risk suspension or the elimination of the entire Israeli football league from FIFA.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked FIFA President Giovanni Infantino to reject a Palestinian bid. Netanyahu also asked the US to push Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on the matter when he visited Washington last week.
Israel believes that US opposition could influence the FIFA Congress.
In response to Netanyahu’s actions, Rajoub told AFP News Agency, “I am sure that Mr. Infantino is not working for Mr. Netanyahu; he was elected by FIFA and he represents the interests of FIFA.”
Should Sexwale decide to move the issue forward, a Wednesday meeting of a FIFA board would then meet to determine whether to put it on the agenda for Thursday’s congress meeting.
