2024-02-21 15:38:06
The football associations of 12 countries, including, Jordan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), urged FIFA to exclude Israel from the world championships due to “atrocities” and “war crimes” in the Gaza Strip, Sky News reported this Thursday, citing a letter on the matter.
The president of the Jordan Football Association and West Asia Football Federation (WAFF, for its acronym in English), Ali bin Al Husseinencouraged “to maintain a decisive position against the atrocities committed in Palestine and war crimes in Gaza, condemning the murder of innocent civilians, including players, coaches, referees and officials, and the destruction of football infrastructure, and forging a united front to isolate the Israel Football Association from all football-related activities until these acts of aggression end.
Furthermore, the letter emphasizes that the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip “requires an unequivocal and determined response from the global community soccer«. “As members, bound by the statutes of FIFA, we remain united in our promise to defend all internationally recognized human rights,” said Al Hussein.
For his part, the CEO of the Israel Football Association, Niv Goldstein, He commented that they are “against involving politicians in football and involving political issues in sport in general.”
«We focus only on football matters, and our dream is to qualify for the Euro Cup in 2024“, and I look forward to global peace,” said the director, expressing his hope that the governing body will reject the request to exclude Israel.
Meanwhile, neither FIFA nor UEFA immediately responded to the British outlet’s request for comment.
Source: RT News