European football should decide whether Israeli teams are banned rather than the world governing body taking the lead, a FIFA vice president has told Sky News.
Leaders within the UEFA region had been exploring sporting sanctions on Israel over the war in Gaza.
But we revealed yesterday that a push for a vote is on hold while US President Donald Trump pursues a peace deal.
Gaza latest: Hamas considers ‘bitter choice’ in Trump plan
Israel’s status in football is also not listed on the agenda for a FIFA Council meeting on Thursday that will be attended by Victor Montagliani – a vice president of FIFA and leader of the CONCACAF region covering North and Central America, and the Caribbean.
“The reality is that that issue is the jurisdiction of UEFA, first and foremost,” Mr Montagliani told Sky News. “It’s their member and they have a process… so we need to respect that.
“And so, I think it’s important that we respect that it’s UEFA’s decision. Obviously, UEFA and FIFA will be having whatever discussions they need to, no different than any other confederation would on any other member.
“And obviously it’s an issue that changes from a geopolitics standpoint almost on a daily basis, as we saw with the last proposal of a peace plan. And so there’s a lot of moving parts.”
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The US state department revealed to Sky News last week that any move by FIFA to ban Israel would be opposed, as the men’s team remains in qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.
This story originally appeared on Skynews
