FIFA to investigate Israel, days after Iran attacks, for alleged discrimination due to Palestinian complaints

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FIFA, the world governing body of soccer, intends to launch an investigation against the Israel Football Association (IFA) over allegations raised by the Palestinian Football Association (PFA), it announced on Thursday. 

FIFA's disciplinary committee will be asked to look into allegations of discrimination as the PFA has accused the IFA of complicity in violations of international law by the Israeli government, discrimination against Arab players and inclusion in its league of clubs located in Palestinian territory.

"The FIFA Disciplinary Committee will be mandated to initiate an investigation into the alleged offense of discrimination raised by the Palestine Football Association," FIFA said in a statement. "FIFA's Governance, Audit and Compliance Committee will be entrusted with the mission to investigate... the participation in Israeli competitions of Israeli football teams allegedly based in the territory of Palestine."

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Palestinian flags are seen during the Men's Group D match between Mali and Israel at the Olympic Games in Paris on July 24, 2024. (Mustafa Yalcin/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Fox News has reached out to the PFA and IFA for comment. 

The PFA previously proposed a suspension for Israel over the war in Gaza. The PFA proposal to 211 member federations called for "appropriate sanctions, with immediate effect, against Israeli teams," according to FIFA documents released this year.

The proposal cited "international law violations committed by the Israeli occupation in Palestine, particularly in Gaza" and cited FIFA statutory commitments on human rights and against discrimination.

"All the football infrastructure in Gaza has been either destroyed, or seriously damaged, including the historic stadium of Al-Yarmuk," the PFA wrote, adding that it had support for the motion from the federations of Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Syria and Yemen. 

The PFA's proposal was enough to convince FIFA to seek an independent legal council and hold a landmark council meeting to make a decision on whether to suspend Israel from international soccer because of the conflict with Hamas, said FIFA President Gianni Infantino at the FIFA congress in May.

"FIFA will mandate as of now, independent legal expertise to [analyze] the three requests [from the Palestinian FA] and ensure the statutes of FIFA are applied in the right way," Infantino said. "Due to the urgency of the situation, an extraordinary FIFA Council will be convened and will take place before July 20 to review the results of the legal assessment and to take the decisions that are appropriate."

FIFA said on Thursday that it won't suspend Israel but that the investigation into alleged discrimination will be carried out. 

The most recent and prominent example of a country to have its athletes banned from major international sports competition was Russia at the Paris Olympics this summer.

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Hundreds of Harvard graduates walked out of the 2024 commencement to call attention to the plight of Palestinians. (Craig F. Walker/Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Russia was banned because it had invaded Ukraine just four days after the end of the 2022 Winter Olympics. The International Olympic Committee considered this attack a violation of the Olympic truce, which is a resolution that calls for all nations to lay down arms and not engage in conflict starting one week before the Olympics begin and ending one week after the end. The Russian Olympic Committee lost its appeal against its suspension by the International Olympic Committee in February. 

Belarus, which was used as a staging ground for the invasion, was also not allowed to compete in Paris. 

However, a total of 32 athletes from Russia and Belarus competed in Paris as neutral participants; 17 previously represented Belarus and 15 represented Russia. They were not allowed to boast their country's flag, but they were able to attend the closing ceremony. 

Countries have also been banned from competing in the World Cup in the past, but those nation's players were never allowed to compete as neutrals. 

Germany and Japan were banned from the 1950 World Cup after the end of World War II. South Africa was banned from 1966 to 1992 for violating FIFA's anti-discrimination charter due to apartheid. Mexico was even banned for two years after using overage players in qualifiers for the 1989 World Youth Championship. 

FIFA's announcement comes the same week that Iran launched a massive missile strike against Israeli cities.

Iran’s strikes on Israel forced nearly 10 million people to find safety in bomb shelters on Tuesday.

The barrage of aerial warfare was the first time in Israeli history that the country’s densely populated cities – Tel Aviv and Jerusalem – in the center of the biblical nation, faced such potentially devastating attacks. The Israeli military said most of the missiles were intercepted, per the Associated Press.

Iran also warned that a retaliatory strike could warrant further ballistic response.

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Rockets fired from Iran are seen over Jerusalem from Hebron, West Bank, on Oct. 1, 2024. (Wisam Hashlamoun/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said during the Asia Cooperation Dialogue summit this week that Israel must not believe it can act with "impunity," according to Reuters.

"Any type of military attack, terrorist act or crossing our red lines will be met with a decisive response by our armed forces," said Pezeshkian.

This Monday marks the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas terrorists. Conflict between Israel and surrounding countries in the region since then has led to widespread tensions across the U.S. over concerns of a humanitarian crisis.

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