The Gaza genocide has proven several things: that moral standards may never have existed to begin with; that if they did, they may no longer hold any value or urgency.
As of today, FIFA has not issued a report regarding Israel’s expulsion or the participation of six Israeli settlement clubs, based in the occupied West Bank, in the Israel Football Association (IFA) League.
In May 2024, the Palestine Football Association (PFA) submitted a proposal at the 74th FIFA Congress, calling for Israel to be held accountable for violations of Palestinian sports rights and to be expelled from FIFA.
One year later, at the 75th FIFA Congress held in Paraguay on May 15, 2025, Susan Shalabi, Vice President of the PFA and member of the Asian Football Confederation’s Executive Committee, urged FIFA to stop delaying action.
“Let’s not keep passing the bucket from one committee to another while football in Palestine is being erased. All we are asking for is a clear update on the status of the matter and an exact date in which the investigation will be concluded,” she said.
Shalabi requested a one-month deadline for the Governance Panel to report back to the FIFA Council, chaired by President Gianni Infantino.
In a powerful speech, Shalabi added: “Our issue is stuck in a highly politicized process… visible, undeniable, but sadly ignored.”
Her words were met with spontaneous applause—the only moment during the entire Congress when delegates clapped without Infantino prompting them to do so.
FIFA responded only after no member federation, including Israel, chose to speak. FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafström said the two ongoing investigations require more time and that newly elected committee members needed to be briefed on the issue.
“The committees are working diligently to conclude what is clearly a highly complex topic,” he said.
It is hard to comprehend how it is possible for the investigation by a FIFA Disciplinary Committee into the ‘alleged’ discrimination offense raised by the Palestine Football Association in its complaint to take more than a year to be completed after it was initiated.
While Israeli football teams are based on Palestinian territory, it is difficult to imagine how FIFA’s Governance, Audit and Compliance Committee could spend over a year conducting an investigation into Israeli settlement teams competing in the Israeli League.
FIFA’s procrastination and delays, as well as the silence of the organization in the face of the Gaza genocide, demonstrate complicity. Complicity in such acts is characteristic of the West, including its media and institutions.
FIFA has issued no statement condemning the killing of athletes or the destruction of sports infrastructure in Gaza. Its only response has been a hollow “neutral” position on what it called the “war” between “Israel and Hamas”.
FIFA has failed to sanction six Israeli league teams based in the West Bank settlements. Israel is a member of UEFA (Union of European Football Associations), whose statutes state that “a Member Association, or its affiliated leagues and clubs, may neither play nor organize matches outside its own territory without the permission of the relevant Member Association.”
Given the ongoing genocide, it is unlikely that any member of FIFA’s 37-member Council—including Infantino or his deputies—will speak out on behalf of Gaza. This reluctance is embedded in an institutional culture of self-interest, political expediency, and corruption.
Sport, as a form of culture, is supposed to serve humanity. When it ceases to do so—when it becomes merely a vehicle for profit, entertainment, or elite networking—it loses its essence. The governing institutions of sport must be held to account, or they risk rendering their values meaningless.
Infantino, who joined Donald Trump on his Middle East tour, caused the FIFA Council to meet online instead of in person ahead of the Paraguay Congress. This was the third time under Infantino’s leadership that the Council convened remotely.
As sports journalist Samindra Kunti noted in Inside World Football, “This will be the third consecutive time that the Council will meet online. Under Infantino, the Council has largely become a rubber-stamping body. Paid $250,000 a year, members rarely raise their voices. The body’s vice-presidents, who are also confederation presidents, receive a net annual compensation of $300,000.”
Infantino enjoys close relationships with Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE—three countries central to FIFA’s future. Qatar hosted the 2022 World Cup and serves as Infantino’s current base. Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 tournament.
Infantino expected the three countries (including UAE) to be more generous towards Trump. This is due to his close relationship with Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Ultimately, Trump ended up with billions more dollars in his pocket thanks to Infantino’s support for him.
Infantino eventually arrived in Paraguay two hours late. UEFA delegates walked out of the Congress in protest, accusing him of prioritizing “private interests” over his responsibilities to the sport.
The Gaza genocide has proven several things: that moral standards may never have existed to begin with; that if they did, they may no longer hold any value or urgency; or that they may simply be words confined to constitutions, statutes, and textbooks assigned to college students.
While FIFA continues to ignore Gaza’s suffering, Palestinians involved in sports live under fire.
During an interview with sports journalist Nelly Masri, who interviewed athletes and journalists during the ongoing genocide, Shaima Abu Al-Jibeen (28 years old), a sports broadcaster, describes what happened to her after October 7, 2023:
“The war began. All aspects of life came to a stop. Our neighborhood, Tuffah, was besieged for the entire duration of the war. We were displaced multiple times—first from the north of Gaza, then Gaza City, and finally to Deir al-Balah.”
As Shaima was displaced during Israeli bombings, she wished her radio station hadn’t been destroyed. The work, while unpaid, gave her a sense of stability.
“Displacement is alienation, separation, fear, and anxiety.” If the radio station had operated, I would have been able to cover all my expenses, as prices back then were very high. During the time that my father was ill, I had to walk long distances in order to find him a doctor who could treat him. It was only a matter of time before he passed away, and my life became much more difficult.”
Journalist Nisreen Halas also shared her experience. In the aftermath of the first Israeli attack in Gaza, Halas began to feel hopeless and lost, and this feeling persisted even after she returned to Gaza following the announcement of a ceasefire in January of this year.
“A sense of desperation gripped me and I felt I could not return to my normal life. Everything had been destroyed: stadiums, clubs, and headquarters. Job opportunities were nonexistent. During the genocide, we were literally lined up on the sidewalk.”
She regarded the work she did on the sports field as essential to her life. But her hopes were crushed and buried under the rubble as the extermination war continued. Although she tried to find work during the war, she was unable to do so due to a lack of essential tools, such as a computer. She also could not travel, as she had no money and public transportation was prohibitively expensive.
Photographer Ni’ma Basla, a 33-year-old married mother of two, believes the sports scene has been distorted over the years, and that the beautiful images it once offered have mostly disappeared. Basla has worked as a sports photographer for many years and aspires to continue her journey through the lens in better conditions and for a brighter future.
She found herself lost and unable to support her family after the destruction of the sports sector during the war—as if the war itself had decided there would no longer be any sports. She did not flee the north with her family but remained there with them.
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