The Associated Press reported Thursday that UEFA is preparing for a possible vote to suspend Israel’s soccer federation over the ongoing war in Gaza, according to people familiar with the proposal. A majority of UEFA’s 20-member executive committee is expected to support such a move, which would bar Israeli national and club teams from international competitions.
If approved, the suspension would prevent Israel from participating in upcoming matches, including its men’s World Cup qualifying games against Norway and Italy in two weeks. It remains uncertain whether FIFA will support the exclusion, given the close ties between FIFA president Gianni Infantino and US President Donald Trump, whose administration played a key role in securing the 2026 World Cup.
A US State Department spokesperson said Washington would work to prevent Israel’s exclusion from the World Cup. FIFA’s 37-member ruling council, which includes eight UEFA representatives, is scheduled to meet next week in Zurich.
Calls to bar Israel from sports have grown in recent weeks amid international criticism of its military campaign in Gaza. Last week, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez urged that Israel be banned from international competitions, drawing a comparison to Russia’s suspension following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Seven UN human rights experts also appealed to FIFA and UEFA to suspend Israel earlier this week.
Israel’s sports minister Miki Zohar said he, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and soccer federation chief Moshe Zuares are working “intensively behind the scenes” to counter efforts to remove Israel from UEFA.