Israel in line for World Cup qualifying reprieve as ban would take in Nations League and Europa League fixtures.
Israel in line for World Cup qualifying reprieve even if Uefa imposes ban.
As the European governing body examines actions against the nation’s football association, Uefa is anticipated to refrain from attempting to prevent Israel from qualifying for the World Cup.
According to Uefa’s plans, which its executive committee (exco) is scheduled to vote on this week, Israel would only be prohibited from competitions that Uefa directly oversees, the Guardian knows. This would result in Maccabi Tel Aviv being kicked out of the Europa League this season and the Israel men’s and women’s national teams being disqualified from the Nations League.
However, Uefa is in charge of organising the qualifying process and fixtures in Europe for the World Cup, which is a FIFA competition. This is carried out “in collaboration” with FIFA, but only with the blessing of the world governing body. Removing Israel by unilateral action would be a difficult political choice that seems to have been avoided. However, Uefa would be in the unique situation of hosting World Cup qualifying matches for a nation that would not normally be allowed if there were no broader ban.
The focus would shift back to FIFA if Israel were barred from participating in Uefa competitions. The United States will “absolutely work to fully stop any effort to attempt to ban Israel’s national football team from the World Cup,” a spokesman for the state department said last week. As the US co-hosts the World Cup next year, Gianni Infantino, the head of FIFA, has a tight relationship with Donald Trump.
During the next international break, Norway and Italy are scheduled to play Israel in qualification. A 24-hour general strike was held in Italy last week in protest of the Israeli government’s activities in Gaza, and Amnesty International in Norway called on the national football association to put more pressure on Uefa last weekend.
It “would only favour Israel, who could in theory be boosted in their qualifying path to the tournament,” according to Gabriele Gravina, head of the Italian football association and member of the Uefa executive committee, when asked last week about the possibility of Italy boycotting their match. With one more game played, Israel is tied for second position with Italy in their qualifying group, and the runners-up are guaranteed a spot in the World Cup playoffs.