To: FIFA Council Members (via email)

Cc: Gianni Infantino, FIFA President
Mattias Graftström, FIFA Secretary General
Emilio Garcia, FIFA Legal Affairs and Compliance Director

Re: Israeli Settlements and the Israel Football Association

Dear FIFA Council Members,

We are writing to encourage you to fulfil FIFA’s responsibilities under its Statutes and international law by ending FIFA’s de facto recognition of and support for Israeli settlement football clubs operating illegally in occupied Palestinian territory, by immediately barring FIFA’s affiliate, the Israel Football Association (IFA), from organizing football activities in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

 Letter to FIFA Council Members Re: Israeli Settlements and the Israel Football Association

IFA-member football clubs are based on and use land that Israeli authorities unlawfully took from and rendered off-limits to Palestinians, who may not enter settlements unless they have special permits to work as day-laborers, much less participate in football activities. Playing FIFA football in settlements is inherently discriminatory, because Palestinian residents of the West Bank cannot access the pitches on which the games take place, which are reserved for Israeli Jews who have been unlawfully transferred into the occupied West Bank.

FIFA’s Human Rights Policy commits to uphold its responsibilities under the UN Guidelines on Business and Human Rights, which make clear that FIFA has the responsibility not to enable, facilitate, or profit from serious violations of international law. Israeli settlements are illegal under the Fourth Geneva Convention and contribute to serious human rights violations.

The International Court of Justice [ICJ] found, in its July 19, 2024 advisory opinion, that Israel’s policies and practices in the occupation amounts to apartheid and racial segregation, and that states are obliged to distinguish in all their dealings with Israel between its territory and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, to “prevent trade or investment relations” that help maintain the settlements, not to recognize as legal any changes imposed by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory since July 1967, and not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation. The ICJ opinion specifies that the duty of non-recognition of Israel’s serious breaches of international law also applies to international organizations.

The ICJ also set out in clear terms how Israel’s policies on the maintenance and expansion of settlements are unlawful under international law, and called for reparations for Palestinians harmed by Israel’s unlawful actions in the OPT, including the immediate evacuation of all settlers from the OPT, and the right of all Palestinians displaced since 1967 to return to their original place of residence.

FIFA has been informed about the human rights violations caused by IFA-sponsored activities on occupied Palestinian territory since 2013. In 2015, FIFA appointed a special Monitoring Committee to decide on the issue, within a year. In March 2017, the committee finally presented its draft report, which recommended that the IFA should stop clubs from operating in settlements within six months, or face sanctions. A resolution proposed by FIFA Council President Gianni Infantino transferred the matter from the Congress to the Council. In October 2017, the Council stated its refusal to implement the report’s recommendations, claiming that it “must remain neutral with regard to political matters.” In May 2024, the Council appointed an ad-hoc legal team to advise it on the matter. The legal team’s report, as shared with the Palestine Football Association (PFA) in September 2024, recommends the Council seek advice from yet another body, the FIFA Governance, Audit and Compliance Committee, on “the issue of the determination of the territory of the Palestine Football Association.” We understand the Council will take a decision on the matter on October 3.

Six IFA football clubs are based in settlements. After taking no meaningful action stop clubs from operating in settlements for more than a decade, the FIFA Council should not prolong the harms caused to Palestinians’ human rights and to football by deferring the issue yet again for further study by another internal committee.

Switzerland, where FIFA is incorporated, “recognizes the authority of the ICJ and calls on all states to do the same.” On September 18, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution calling on Israel and other states to implement the ICJ opinion.

The settlement clubs violate FIFA’s own rules. FIFA Statutes provide, “Member associations and their clubs may not play on the territory of another member association without the latter’s approval” (article 64(2).) The Palestine Football Association (PFA) has never issued such authorization to the IFA. Article 3 of the FIFA Statutes states, “FIFA is committed to respecting all internationally recognised human rights and shall strive to promote the protection of these rights.” FIFA’s Human Rights Policy “enshrine[s]” its responsibility to “uphold the inherent dignity and equal rights of everyone affected by its activities.”

We call on the Council to take action to end FIFA’s de facto sponsorship of football in Israeli settlements, which are inseparable from serious human rights abuses.

Sincerely,

Sari Bashi
Program Director
Human Rights Watch

Nicholas McGeehan
Director,
FairSquare

Fadi Quran
Senior Campaigns Director
Avaaz