‘Football Must Act’ Says Italian Coaches, Demands To Suspend Israel Immediately

The Italian Football Coaches Association AIAC has taken an audacious step by publishing an open letter, requesting temporary suspension of Israel in international football before their game against Northern Italy in qualifying to 2026 FIFA World Cup. The AIAC asserts that as Israel is engaged in the raging war in Israel and Gaza territory, where the UN investigators have accused Israel of indulging in genocidal acts, it would not be possible to be engaged in sporting activities at this time. The resultant game has been scheduled to be a neutral venue game in Debrecen, Hungary, followed by a leg in Italy, but AIAC is insistent that the game is wrong to be played any longer.

Is Football coming under the Global Tension radar?

This letter is to the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) and is addressed to the European Football Association (UEFA), and the international football governing body the FIFA, following the call on football to take no side in the warring madness. The board added that since the past pain can only distort the conscience and humanity of anybody, the board is able to do this. This appeal is in line with the increasing global indignation, the Norwegian Football Federation recently promised to give up all the revenue over its forthcoming World Cup qualification match against Israel to aid the cause in Gaza. In the meantime, Israel has not incurred official sanctions of both UEFA and FIFA despite increasing demands. FIFA has continually postponed arriving at a ruling and UEFA has been arguing that there are no plans to emulate the ban on Russia because there have been perceived differences between the two cases. 

Israel playing in Neutral grounds

Participation in sporting has been seriously affected by the Israeli Palestine conflict. Israel has not been able to play its matches at home since 2023 and the qualifiers have been played in neutral cities. In the meantime, there is the continued questioning of the human rights issues related to hosting of the matches in the occupied West Bank and the loss of lives of sports personnel. 

Since Italy will be pitted against Israel in UEFA Group I of the qualifiers along with Norway, Estonia, and Moldova, it will be important to garner the diplomatic and ethical impact of the AIAC in this letter. The matches scheduled are a September 8 game in Hungary, and an October 14 game back in Udine. To date, advocacy of a suspension has been so far limited to critics and, by calling directly on the FA to demand suspension, the AIAC has ventured the farthest to date in its pursuit of accountability not just among governing bodies, but internationally.

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