<\/p>\n
Ahead of the opening matches of the 2026\/27 men\u2019s UEFA Nations League group phase where Austria, Ireland and Kosovo will play against Israel during the 24 September \u2013 6 October international window, Steve Cockburn, Amnesty International\u2019s Regional Director for Europe said:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s unconscionable that the Israel men\u2019s football team will participate in the UEFA Nations League this autumn despite clear evidence that Israel\u2019s football association continues to support illegal settlements.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead of sending a clear message that there is a cost for Israel\u2019s unlawful occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) and its atrocity crimes against Palestinians, UEFA is giving Israel an international stage as it maintains its brutal occupation of the OPT, its system of apartheid over all Palestinians, and its ongoing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n
\u201cUEFA and FIFA should have suspended the Israel Football Association (IFA) long ago, for its refusal to exclude clubs based in illegal settlements in the OPT. Their continued participation in the Israeli leagues is in brazen violation of FIFA\u2019s statutes and is contrary to international law. As the money keeps flowing from FIFA and UEFA to the IFA, they risk contributing to the sustainability of illegal settlements and of Israel\u2019s unlawful occupation of the OPT, and therefore Israel\u2019s violations of Palestinians\u2019 human rights.<\/p>\n
\u201cDecisions and opinions by international courts, and resolutions by the United Nations General Assembly and the United Nations Security Council, over the last decades, have repeatedly condemned Israel for its multiple and egregious violations.<\/p>\n
\u201cSport should never be used as a public relations spectacle for states committing atrocities. <\/p>\n
\nAs the Israel team travels to Europe, Palestinian families are being displaced and dispossessed, their land stolen, their olive trees uprooted and their histories erased by settlers with the support of the Israeli military. The beautiful game should bring people together, not rubber-stamp apartheid.<\/p>\n
Steve Cockburn, Amnesty International\u2019s Regional Director for Europe<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u201cAs political leaders and sporting authorities choose to stay on the sidelines, fuelling Israel\u2019s impunity, fans are stepping onto the pitch to demand accountability, justice and fair play. When rules are broken, when occupation, apartheid and genocide are ongoing, we cannot look the other way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Background<\/strong><\/p>\n
The Israel men\u2019s football team will participate in the forthcoming group phase matches for the fifth edition of UEFA Nations League. The group phase matches will take place across two sets of matches, the first four between 24 September to 6 October and another two matches between 12 and 17 November 2026. Israel is part of League B in this grouping, together with Austria, Ireland and Kosovo.<\/p>\n
There is strong public opposition to Israel\u2019s participation in football competitions in Ireland under the umbrella of the \u2018Stop the Game\u2019 campaign. Several football associations, players, activists, trade unions, artists and politicians have called for sanctions, boycott or the suspension of the forthcoming matches between Ireland and Israel scheduled for 27 September and 4 October.<\/p>\n
The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) formally submitted a request to UEFA to consider suspending Israel from UEFA competitions. UEFA has nevertheless approved the Nations League fixtures and the use of \u201cneutral venues\u201d where necessary, in countries other than Israel and Ireland. The games between Ireland and Israel are scheduled to take place in \u201cneutral venues\u201d in Hungary and Serbia, behind closed doors with no fans allowed in the stadiums.<\/p>\n
In October 2025, Amnesty International wrote to FIFA and UEFA<\/a> calling for the suspension of the IFA unless clubs from illegal settlements in OPT were immediately excluded from participating in domestic Israeli leagues.<\/p>\n
In March 2026, FIFA announced<\/a> that no action will be taken against IFA over the participation of clubs based in illegal settlements in Israel\u2019s leagues. With this position FIFA is indirectly legitimizing, and risks contributing to, Israel\u2019s unlawful occupation and its severe human rights violations against Palestinians, including the crime against humanity of apartheid, while also ignoring the International Court of Justice\u2019s 2024 Advisory Opinion.<\/p>\n
Prompted by FIFA\u2019s decision to reject their complaints regarding Israeli settlement clubs, the Palestinian Football Association has submitted<\/a> a case to the Court of Arbitration of Sport.<\/p>\n