FIFA: Delay of Israeli Settlement Club Decision Sets Back Reform, 11 May 2017

FIFA President Gianni Infantino today [11 May 2017] won yet another delay on deciding whether to allow the Israel Football Association to continue holding games in unlawful Israeli settlements in the West Bank, keeping FIFA in direct violation of its own statutes and commitment to respect human rights … Infantino told the Congress that he received [a final internal report on the matter] only yesterday. Following the vote, he told a press conference that Council members did not receive a written report…and did not have a chance to study it. 

Human Rights Watch, Avaaz, and EuMEP have called for FIFA to bar its affiliate, the Israeli Football Association (IFA), from organizing football activities in West Bank settlements, because those settlements are illegal under the Fourth Geneva Convention, and contribute to serious human rights abuses … In April 2016, Professor John Ruggie authored a report for FIFA on how the body needs to entrench human rights across the federation’s operations. Ruggie’s recommendations for FIFA are based on the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the global standard on business and human rights.