Iran’s football federation announced on Saturday that it had asked world football’s governing body FIFA to suspend the Israel Football Federation over the war in Gaza.
In a notice posted on the Iran Football Federation’s website, Iran asked FIFA to “completely suspend” the Israeli federation “from all football-related activities”.
The petition also asks FIFA and its member associations for “immediate and serious measures” to “prevent the continuation” of Israeli “crimes and provide food, drinking water, medicinal and medical supplies to innocent people and civilians”.
The war in Gaza began on October 7 with an unprecedented attack by Hamas militants against Israel. According to AFP, based on official Israeli figures, it claimed the lives of about 1,160 people, mostly civilians.
In response, Israel promised to eradicate Hamas. Hamas launched airstrikes and a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, killing at least 27,947 people, mostly women and children, according to the Health Ministry.
Iran hailed the October 7 Hamas attack as a “success” but denied any direct involvement.
The Islamic Republic does not recognize Israel, its sworn enemy, and bans all contact between Iranian and Israeli athletes.
Last August, Iranian authorities banned weightlifter Mostaf Rajaei for life after he shook hands with an Israeli athlete at an event in Poland, state media reported at the time.
The Iran Weightlifting Federation also recalled the head of the delegation for the competition, Hamid Salehinia.
In 2021, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on athletes “not to shake hands with a representative of the (Israeli) criminal regime to win a medal”.
A group of Middle East football associations, including Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, also “asked world football chiefs to ban Israel over its war with Hamas in Gaza,” Sky News reported on Thursday.
