A campaign group, Game Over Israel, has delivered a letter to UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin, co-signed by 70 sporting figures, demanding the immediate suspension of Israeli football teams from international competition over its actions in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
According to a report from The New Arab, the campaign group Game Over Israel is strongly urging UEFA to ban Israeli players and teams from all international competition following the military actions in the Gaza Strip and the continued occupation of the West Bank.
The group officially delivered a letter to UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin in London on Tuesday. The document was co-signed by 70 sporting figures and various pro-Palestinian organisations.
Among the signatories are former Manchester United French footballer Paul Pogba, Crystal Palace’s Chadi Riad, and Norwegian player Mathias Normann.
The letter demands that Europe’s football governing body “fulfil its legal and moral responsibilities” given the atrocities Israel has carried out.
The campaigners cited the UN confirming Israel was committing genocide against Gaza’s Palestinians, the ICJ’s ruling on the West Bank’s illegality, and the participation of players from illegal settlements as breaches of international law.
Game Over Israel Campaign Director Ashish Prashar stated that the group was “deeply disturbed” by UEFA’s inaction and stressed:
“No shared venue, stage, or arena in international civil society should welcome a regime that commits genocide, apartheid, and other crimes against humanity. Israel’s impunity for such crimes will only be ended by the weight of collective conscientious action.”
The campaign also cited precedents, noting UEFA has previously suspended apartheid South Africa, the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and Russia.