July 23 – On the eve of the kick-off of the Olympic football tournament, Palestine have called for the “immediate exclusion of Israel from the Paris Olympics 2024”.
In a letter to the world’s two foremost sporting governing bodies – the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and FIFA – the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) and the Palestine Olympic Committee (POC) invoked violations of the Olympic truce, the ICJ Ruling that deems Israel in breach of article 3 of CERD, previous actions by the IOC and FIFA in relation to Russia, and the impact on Palestinian athletes to demand Israel be excluded from the sporting extravaganza in Paris.
Israel’s delegation at the 2024 Olympic Games features 88 athletes who will compete in 16 sports and 66 events.
The Israelis will also participate in the men’s Olympic football tournament and on Wednesday, will debut against Mali at the Parc des Princes in the French capital.
Last week, FIFA cleared the way for Israel to participate in the competition after the world federation said a legal assessment of the Palestine – Israel dispute required “more time”.
FIFA noted that: “Following requests for extension from both parties to submit their respective positions, duly granted by FIFA, more time is needed to conclude this process with due care and completeness.”
At the FIFA Congress in May, the PFA moved to suspend the Israeli Football Association (IFA) from the global game, but a vote never reached Congress and instead, FIFA and their president Gianni Infantino mandated a panel of legal experts to assess the dispute. An extraordinary Council meeting for July 20, just four days before the kick-off of the Olympic football tournament, was then postponed.
The PFA highlighted that “members of the Israeli Olympic delegation have been engaged in racist anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab and Islamophobic campaigns as well as encouraging war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.”
The letter concluded: “It is also useful to invoke the standards set in the IOC decision of 25 January 2023 on reinstatement of the Russian and Belarussian individual athletes according to which being a part of the army or voicing support for war on social media is a ground for their non-inclusion.”
In Group D, Israel will play Japan and Paraguay after their tie against Mali.
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