Fifa’s Israel vs Palestine problem unresolved

JACK MILNER

Another attempt to end the conflict was once again scuppered and it now looks as if Fifa will have to make the call at its annual congress that begins in Bahrain on Thursday this week. 

Talks were set up on Tuesday ahead of the Congress by Fifa’s chief negotiator, South African Tokyo Sexwale, but after a five-hour shouting match, it once again ended in acrimony, with both sides blaming the other for the deadlock.

Fifa put out a statement which read: “Following the report by chairman of the Monitoring Committee Israel-Palestine, Tokyo Sexwale, the Fifa Council considered that at this stage it is premature for the Fifa Congress to take any decision.”

The other issue which now needs to be resolved is the future role of Sexwale. He was appointed to the position by Fifa until the start of this week’s congress, so they would either have to reappoint him or find somebody else to take over the role. 

Sexwale had hoped to take some kind of agreement into the Fifa Council session later in the day to avoid a potential Congress showdown. The sides met at a hotel specifically for Fifa delegates, but after hours of heated discussion, the meeting ended with nothing but angry exchanges, spearheaded by Palestinian Football Association chie, Jibril Rajoub, who repeated his insistence that Israeli clubs stop playing in the occupied territories or face the consequences.

On Monday, Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President Sheikh Salman, told his regional congress that his organisation stood united with Palestine and urged Fifa “to come up with the best solution as soon as possible”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Fifa President Giovanni Infantino to reject the Palestinian bid to have Israel ejected from the organisation if the country does not agree to stop West Bank teams from playing in the Israeli leagues. Netanyahu also asked the US to push Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on the matter.

In response to Netanyahu’s actions, Rajoub told AFP News Agency: “I am sure that Mr Infantino is not working for Mr Netanyahu; he was elected by Fifa and he represents the interests of Fifa.”

The Palestinian Football Association (PFA) wants Fifa to enforce article 72.2 of the Fifa Statutes which states: “Member associations and their clubs may not play on the territory of another member association.”

On that basis, they want the removal of six Israeli teams playing in the West Bank settlement areas.

The Israelis, on the other hand, argue that the teams are playing on settled land in Zone C of the division of the West Bank, and that the Palestinians are using this as a first step to getting the Israeli FA either expelled or suspended from Fifa.

As tension mounted on Tuesday and the atmosphere spiralled out of control, Rajoub said he had no choice but to again demand action at the Fifa Congress.

Using familiar rhetoric, such as accusing Israel of being a “crazy fascist racist government”. Rajoub told reporters: “We had a very hot discussion. The Israelis again sent threats to everybody that no-one has the right to do anything against them.

“We will keep asking the Israeli federation to abide by the Fifa Statutes and arrange their sporting activities within internationally recognised borders and stop their humiliation.”

Fifa has been trying to mediate in the dispute for more than three years, but it clear there will be no common ground before the matter reaches Congress.

Israel claims Rajoub is cynically trying to redraw the territorial borders through football, but he has persistently argued that he will ask Congress to “end Israel’s violation of the Statutes”.

“Either they abide, or they face sanctions,” he said. “There is no agreement. The Israelis want to keep talking for the sake of talking. We cannot continue like this. They are committing a fatal mistake.”

Rajoub’s interpretation of the crisis is in stark contrast with Israel’s view of what happened at Tuesday’s meeting at which Sexwale was apparently “in despair” at having failed in his mandate to forge a deal.

In March Sexwale proposed three options, including a six-month period for Israel to relocate the six clubs, and asked both sides to respond within a month.