🔗 Share this article Football Association of Ireland Approves Resolution Urging European Football Ban on Israel The Football Association of Ireland has voted in favor to present a formal motion to Uefa, demanding the banning of Israeli football from all European club and international tournaments. Grounds for the Proposed Ban The resolution, that had been put forward by Dublin club Bohemians, highlighted claimed breaches by the IFA of a couple of key European football regulations. Failure to apply and uphold an effective policy against racism. Organisation of football teams in disputed territories lacking the approval of the Palestrian FA. Ballot Results and Future Actions As stated in an announcement from the Irish FA, the proposal was supported by 74 votes, with seven against and two not voting. The association intends to formally submit this motion to the Uefa executive committee, asking for the immediate suspension of the IFA from Uefa competitions. In an extraordinary general meeting of the FAI, an standard motion was put to members. It was approved by a large margin. Previous European Deliberations Uefa had previously put on hold plans to exclude Israel at the end of September, following the announcement of a US peace proposal for the area. Although Uefa never officially confirmed contemplating an special session on the issue, plans were understood to be quite advanced. Global Context This Irish resolution comes after similar calls in September from the heads of Turkish and Norwegian governing bodies for banning Israel from international competition. These appeals were issued after UN specialists asked world and European football bodies to suspend Israel, referencing a UN commission of inquiry report that accused Israel of committing genocide during the Gaza conflict. The Israeli government has rejected these allegations and labeled the report as scandalous. Possible Consequences Should Uefa choose to ban Israel, it would probably create tension with the US administration – joint hosts for the 2026 World Cup – which strongly opposes such an action. Even though Uefa has the power to suspend Israeli teams from its tournaments, it might not be able to prevent them from competing in qualification for the World Cup, which is governed by world football's governing body.