The congress of soccer's governing body FIFA decided on Thursday to adopt the proposal of President Gianni Infantino, not to vote on the Palestinian Authority proposal against Israeli teams from beyond the 1949 Armistice Line. The decision was made by a large majority and 73% of the member states voted for it.
Chairman Ofer Eini the Israel Football Association, said, "We have good and faithful friends at FIFA, and we have been able to make it clear once again that mixing politics and sports can be disastrous, and therefore FIFA must avoid it." Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev said, PA Football Association head "Jibril Rajoub has lost again, and all your attempts to bring Israel down from FIFA failed. 73% vs. 27% voted in favor of rejecting your proposal. We were happy that we managed to kick politics off the soccer field."