By Andrew Warshaw
April 20 – Israeli officials headed to Switzerland today to fight their corner with UEFA and FIFA in order to stave off a potential “day of judgement” with regard to their very existence as a footballing nation.
Palestine has called for its neighbour to be suspended from world football at next month’s FIFA Congress and as a result, new Israeli FA chairman Ofer Eini (pictured) and his chief executive Rotem Kamer, accompanied by a legal adviser, were to meet UEFA president Michel Platini and, next week, FIFA president Sepp Blatter, for urgent talks in a bid to head off a vote to expel them.
“The threat on Israeli soccer is real and immediate,” said Eini. “Our understanding is that (Israel’s suspension) will be put to a vote and we are preparing for it with everybody we need. We are trying to prevent a situation where a vote will take place in the congress on the basis of the inappropriate request. If this will not succeed, we will work to recruit enough people to oppose so that the request does not pass.”
Palestinian officials have lost patience with Israel continuing to hinder free movement of players and equipment between the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza in violation of FIFA statutes, claiming the Israelis even refuse to issue permits for foreign delegation visits.
But Eini countered: “Instead of using soccer to bridge between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, which could contribute to rapprochement between the nations, the Palestinian Union is requesting to operate by way of boycotts and sanctions which will only exacerbate the situation.
“The Palestinian request is a blatant attempt to mix sports with politics and it comes despite it being clear that the Israeli union did everything it could in order to enable proper athletic life (in the occupied territories). With all due respect, we do not set international policy or interfere with security considerations.”
That, however, is exactly the root of the problem with the Israeli FA powerless to act against the wishes of the government which handles security in the West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority exercises limited self rule, and along the border with the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.
Two years ago, FIFA established a task force which included the Israeli and Palestinian federations and the heads of the European and Asian confederations. Blatter managed to persuade the Palestinians to drop a similar call at last year’s FIFA Congress but has seemingly been unable to do so again. So far at least.
Palestine Football Association chief Jibril Rajoub claims the support of, among others, Jordan, Qatar, Iran, Oman, Algeria and Tunisia but Blatter, who recently said he would not support the PFA’s proposal for fear of harming the global game, will doubtless work until the last moment to prevent the proposal coming to a vote.
But for his part, Rajoub says enough is enough.
“The Israelis are enjoying the status afforded by being part of FIFA while depriving a neighbouring administration of their rights to play football,” he was quoted as saying last week.
“For years we have asked confederations in Asia and Europe to interfere and stop the suffering of Palestinian footballers… When that didn’t work we decided to go directly to FIFA’s general assembly.”
If the motion is passed in Zurich, Israel will become the only national team apart from South Africa – expelled from FIFA in 1964 and readmitted in 1992 after the collapse of apartheid – to be thrown out of international football.
“There is a wish by all the official parties to get this off the agenda, nobody wants to involve politics,” insisted Kamer.
“UEFA and FIFA understand this but we have to be prepared for the day of judgement, we can’t just leave it to chance. It would need a 75% majority, 209 associations will vote but it could happen. If Israel is suspended, all its international activities will come to a halt.”
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