The Palestinian Football Association's earliet request to ban the Israeli national team from international competitions has been put on hold again by Fifa.
This request is a result of Israel's ongoing military actions in Gaza. The PFA has reported that 92 Palestinian players have died during the war, football infrastructure has been destroyed, its leagues have been suspended, and its national team must play World Cup qualifiers abroad.
FIFA confirmed this in a statement on X (formerly Twitter) saying that it had gotten an independent legal review of the Palestinian Football Association's suggestions against the Israel Football Association.
However, FIFA has announced that the assessment will be reviewed at the next FIFA Council meeting in October, causing a delay in immediate action.
The Palestinian FA is demanding that FIFA impose appropriate sanctions on Israel, including the exclusion of its national and club teams from competitions.
The governing body expressed gratitude to both associations for their cooperation, but did not provide specific information about the evaluation or a precise date for the meeting.
FIFA promised an urgent legal assessment during the process's start in May. FIFA delayed the decision to August, and now again to October, having previously planned to address the matter in July.
Despite the ongoing situation, the Palestinian FA has not yet responded to this latest delay.
The Football community is closely monitoring FIFA's response considering the sensitive of the issue at hand, seeing that it covers a broader geopolitical conflict.
According to the Palestine proposal, the IFA is accused of cooperating with international law violations by the Israeli government, discriminating against Arab players, and including them in its league of clubs located in Palestinian territory.
Meanwhile the IFA has reportedly rejected the brewing allegations against them.
In May, during the 74th Congress in Bangkok, the Palestinian Football Association's President Jibril Rajoub moved for the immediate suspension of Israel from the world governing body for football, saying:
"How much more must the Palestine football family suffer for FIFA to act with the same severity and urgency as it did in other cases?"
Israel launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip after the Hamas attack in October 2023, which left nearly 1,200 people dead. More than 200 people were taken as hostages.
According to the local health authorities, Over 38,800 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and more than 89,400 injured.
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