(MENAFN) FIFA and UEFA are facing criticism for continuing to include Israel in international competitions despite reports from major human rights organizations labeling Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocidal, according to Kat Vilarev, legal adviser to the Palestine Football Association and a sports law expert.

Speaking to a news agency, Vilarev highlighted that organizations such as the United Nations, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and FairSquare have issued findings against Israel, yet FIFA President Gianni Infantino and UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin have ignored these warnings.

“Both football and basketball associations use occupied Palestinian land as their own to stage competitions, which means that they directly aid the occupation and illegal settlements. Given the complicity of all levels of Israeli sports, global sports bodies should enforce their own statutes, human rights policies, and disciplinary codes and act consistently with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights,” Vilarev said.

She further accused Israeli athletes of being soldiers, some of whom have publicly supported the destruction of Gaza, while clubs and associations back Israeli occupation forces. Vilarev argued that FIFA and UEFA, which quickly expelled Russia and Belarus from competitions over the Ukraine invasion, have failed to uphold their principles regarding Israel.

“Since no external oversight mechanisms exist for FIFA or UEFA in such matters, they are effectively free to act as they wish. According to their own regulations, political considerations should play no role in the decisions of sports governing bodies. Yet, the issue has become deeply politicized, and the interests of the more powerful prevail. It’s a reflection of inequality within sport,” she said.

Vilarev also noted that athletes in Gaza have no legal recourse through institutions like the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) or the International Criminal Court (ICC). “Non-state actors cannot bring a case before the ICC, and private organizations (such as FIFA) cannot be directly prosecuted there either. But individuals within those organizations, such as Mr. Infantino and Mr. Ceferin, can be prosecuted if they personally aided crimes under the ICC’s jurisdiction,” she explained.

She labeled the transfer of Israeli settlers, including athletes in settlement clubs, as a war crime, adding: “Another war crime is building settlements and football clubs on stolen Palestinian land from which Palestinians were forcibly transferred. A willing state could, under the principle of individual criminal responsibility, seek to hold the presidents of FIFA and UEFA accountable for facilitating these war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

Vilarev called for the introduction of new regulations in international sports law, pointing out the inconsistent treatment of Russia and Israel as evidence of systemic politicization. “The public should collectively reject this injustice and hypocrisy by holding these institutions accountable, refusing to purchase from their sponsors, and refusing to watch any competition in which Israel is participating,” she urged.

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