Several dozen protesters gathered outside the venue of the FIFA congress Friday in support of a Palestinian motion to have Israel suspended from football's ruling body.
The protesters, who had also gathered in larger numbers at Thursday evening's formal opening of the congress, held banners and flags outside the Hallenstadion in Zurich and chanted their support.
Palestinian football chief Jibril Rajoub said just ahead of the congress "I want to end the plight of my people. I am responsible for sport, I am not doing politics. The problem is that the rights of the people in Palestine are not recognized."
The Palestine football federation PFA has demanded that its Israeli counterpart be thrown out of FIFA because of Israel's stringent security restrictions on the movement of Palestinian sports people and equipment.
It also says that football clubs of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank should not be allowed to play in the Israeli league.
FIFA president Joseph Blatter has tried in vain over the past weeks to get the motion off the congress agenda through talks and a visit to the region where he also met with Palestinian president Mahmut Abbas and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanjahu.
The congress will first hear an update on the matter before the Palestinian motion itself comes towards the end of the gathering.
