ISTANBUL

FIFA and UEFA are disregarding international law by allowing Israel to compete despite credible reports from respected international organizations describing Israel's actions in Gaza as genocide, said Kat Vilarev, the Palestine FA's legal adviser and a sports law academic.

Speaking to Anadolu, Vilarev said that although the United Nations, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and FairSquare have all issued findings against Israel, FIFA President Gianni Infantino and UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin have chosen to ignore them.

"Both football and basketball associations use occupied Palestinian land as their own to stage competitions, which means that they directly aid the occupation and illegal settlements. Given the complicity of all levels of Israeli sports, global sports bodies should enforce their own statutes, human rights policies, and disciplinary codes and act consistently with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights," she said.

Vilarev went on to say that Israeli athletes are soldiers, and some have even called for Gaza's destruction, while clubs and associations have publicly supported Israeli occupation forces.

'Double standard'

Vilarev stated that FIFA and UEFA, which swiftly expelled Russia and Belarus from competitions over the invasion of Ukraine, have disregarded their own legal principles to shield Israel from accountability.

"Since no external oversight mechanisms exist for FIFA or UEFA in such matters, they are effectively free to act as they wish. According to their own regulations, political considerations should play no role in the decisions of sports governing bodies. Yet, the issue has become deeply politicized, and the interests of the more powerful prevail. It’s a reflection of inequality within sport," she said.

Vilarev added that athletes in Gaza have no right to appeal to international organizations such as the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) or the International Criminal Court (ICC).

"Non-state actors cannot bring a case before the ICC, and private organizations (such as FIFA) cannot be directly prosecuted there either. But individuals within those organizations, such as Mr. Infantino and Mr. Ceferin, can be prosecuted if they personally aided crimes under the ICC’s jurisdiction," she said.

'Athletes in settlement clubs are a war crime'

The illegal transfer of the settler civilian population, who are also athletes in settlement clubs, is a war crime, according to Vilarev.

"Another war crime is building settlements and football clubs on stolen Palestinian land from which Palestinians were forcibly transferred. A willing state could, under the principle of individual criminal responsibility, seek to hold the presidents of FIFA and UEFA accountable for facilitating these war crimes and crimes against humanity," he said.

Vilarev emphasized the necessity of introducing new regulations or mechanisms in international sports law, saying: "There was always the need for it, and now that need has been highlighted by the differential treatment of Russia and Israel."

She said the entire system is deeply politicized, dominated by political figures such as Infantino and Ceferin who make decisions based on politics and power rather than on principle.

"The public should collectively reject this injustice and hypocrisy by holding these institutions accountable, refusing to purchase from their sponsors, and refusing to watch any competition in which Israel is participating," she said.