EU MEP urges suspension of Israel from global sports competitions amid calls to ban regime

As calls for banning the Israeli regime from all global sports competitions gain momentum around the world, a member of the European Parliament, Clare Daly has urged sports federations worldwide to suspend the apartheid regime “until it complies with international law.”

Daly called on the International Olympic Committee, the International Federation of Association Football, the Union of European Football Associations, and the International Basketball Federation to “suspend” Israel from taking part in any competition.

In an announcement on a social media post, Daly shared a petition regarding the request and urged her followers to sign it and take part in the protest, which is in line with the campaign to ban Israel from all global sports competitions.

“I've signed a petition calling on the IOC, FIFA, UEFA, FIBA, and other sports organizations to suspend Israel from international competitions until it complies with international law,” she wrote.

The trend of calling on sports federations has gained much ground ever since the Israeli regime launched its war and complete siege over Gaza, which led to the killing of tens of thousands of Palestinians.

A movement that mainly started off in West Asian countries has now spread around the world as countries and individuals have been urging sports federations to take action against the ongoing genocide.

The campaign is not new, as the Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS) movement has long advocated for Israel’s football association to be expelled or suspended for hosting FIFA-sanctioned matches in Israeli illegal settlements in the West Bank.

On Saturday, the Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran called on world football's governing body, FIFA, to “completely suspend” Israel from football-related activities due to the regime’s war on Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip.

Iran football federation asks FIFA to ‘completely suspend’ Israel over Gaza war

The Iranian football federation asks FIFA to “completely suspend” Israel from all football-related activities.

Last month, Turkey arrested Israeli footballer Sagiv Jehezkel, 28, for “inciting hatred” by displaying “an ugly gesture in support of the Israeli massacre in Gaza” during a match in Turkey.

While mixing sports with hatred, the footballer was accused of displaying an indecent message which read “100 days. 07/10”, on his bandage, pointing out after he scored a goal for his team.

On New Year’s Eve, Jordan’s Football Association (JFA) called on the global sports community to take “decisive action to stop the aggression against Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied territories” and place stringent sanctions on the regime.

The Palestinian Football Association (PFA) had also announced that it had sent letters to the International Olympic Committee and FIFA demanding an “urgent international probe into occupation crimes against sports and athletes in Palestine”.

The movement also aims to expose the double standards of the Western sports federations, as in October the IOC suspended the Russian Olympic Committee and barred athletes from Russia and Belarus who have military contracts following Moscow’s decision to absorb sports organizations in four territories in Ukraine.

However, it supported the inclusion of Israeli athletes in the upcoming Paris Olympics, despite the fact that some participating athletes also serve as active members of the Israeli occupation forces.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov blasted the organization’s “bias and ineptitude” approach, while the Olympic officials responded by claiming that the two conflicts could not be compared, hinting at their inclination towards the Zionist regime.

“This is a unique situation and cannot be compared to any other war or conflict in the world, because the measures taken and recommendations made by the IOC are a consequence of the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army during the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022,” an IOC spokesperson said in November 2023.

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