FIFA Punts Again On Israeli Settlement Clubs Issue

The FIFA Council removed the Israeli settlement clubs issue from this week's FIFA Congress agenda, saying it would be "premature" to make any decision on the matter. This comes two years after FIFA appointed Tokyo Sexwale as head of the Israel-Palestine Monitoring Committee.

This issue has officially been on FIFA's agenda since 2015 when the Palestine FA accused Israel of a host of violations. At the time, the Palestine FA also accused Israel of preventing the free movement of players and withholding the shipment of soccer equipment to the West Bank. In the time since Sexwale was appointed to monitor the situation, the Palestine FA has narrowed its focus on the settlement clubs.

It's obvious why FIFA consistently avoids ruling on this topic. Currently, six Israeli teams operate in the West Bank and play in Israel's lower leagues. According to FIFA's regulations, no FA can operate in another FA's territory without their permission. To rule on the issue would be to make an international statement over who controls the West Bank, one of the most contested issues of our time.

FIFA has long held reservations about making overtly political rulings, but delaying the issue has only made it more political. In January, Sari Bashi of Human Rights Watch called for FIFA to sanction the Israeli Football Association over the settlement clubs. The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement recently urged FIFA to do the same. Meanwhile, a group called Kick Terrorism Out of Football petitioned FIFA to remove Palestine FA leader Jibril Rajoub from the organization. Haaretz reported Israel has put "heavy pressure" on FIFA in recent weeks, including a phone call between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and FIFA President Gianni Infantino where Netanyahu asked for the issue to be removed from the agenda.

FIFA's position, according to Haaretz, is that the Council couldn't come to a decision on what to do. But nothing is going to change any time soon that will make the decision any easier. Sexwale himself called further delay tactics in hope of an amicable solution "futile," but the will to make a ruling on settlement clubs simply isn't there.

The cardinal sin for sports plutocrat types like the FIFA Council is to be perceived as mixing politics and sports, no matter how much the two are actually intertwined. Whether or not it makes sense, FIFA is likely to kick the can down the road for as long as it has control over its own feet.