Fifa fines Israel Football Association for ‘discrimination’ | OneFootball

The FIFA Disciplinary Committee fined the Israel Football Association (IFA) 150,000 Swiss francs (about R$ 997,000 at the current exchange rate) on Thursday for “serious and repeated violations” of its obligations in combating discrimination.

The Israeli entity “failed to adopt concrete and transparent measures against discriminatory behavior,” particularly regarding racist attitudes displayed by Beitar Jerusalem fans and “tolerated politicized and militaristic messages in football contexts,” FIFA explained in a statement.

Its decision, detailed over 40 pages, lists a series of racist behaviors in Israeli football, ranging from chants about racial purity in the Beitar stands to insults directed at Arab players, as well as “militaristic” messages posted on social media by officials of professional leagues and Maccabi Netanya.

FIFA considered that the fines imposed by the IFA on Beitar were insufficiently specific, noting that they were not expressly linked to racist incidents.

It was also found that the IFA “made no public statement condemning racism, launched no campaign to combat discrimination, and did not adopt measures aimed at promoting the inclusion of Arab or Palestinian players.”

The Israel Football Association must pay two-thirds of the fine “within 30 days” and invest the remainder “in the implementation of a comprehensive plan aimed at ensuring actions against discrimination.”

Additionally, in its next three international home matches, Israel must display a large and highly visible banner with the words “Football Unites the World – No to Discrimination,” FIFA added.

“While this constitutes a step in the right direction, the conclusions do not fully address the magnitude and seriousness of the violations observed in the request, which amounted to incitement to genocide,” the Palestinian Federation reacted on Facebook.

At the same time, FIFA decided “not to take any action” regarding Israeli clubs established in illegal settlements in the West Bank, thus rejecting a Palestinian request that had been pending for two years and had the support of several United Nations experts.

The world’s top football authority chose “not to take any action, given that (…) the final legal status of the West Bank is an unresolved and extremely complex issue under public international law,” it announced in a statement.

“FIFA must continue to promote dialogue and offer mediation” between the Israeli and Palestinian football federations, the text added.

*with content from AFP

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.