FIFA commits to rebuilding Gaza football while taking no action against Israel

FIFA is set to spend $75 million to rebuild Gaza's football infrastructure, US President Donald Trump announced during the first meeting of his 'Board of Peace' on Thursday.

Trump said that he was "pleased to announce that FIFA will be helping raise a total of $75 million for projects in Gaza," with FIFA later clarifying that this would include constructing a football academy, a 20,000-seat stadium, and dozens of pitches, and that the money would be raised from "international leaders and institutions."

FIFA's president Gianni Infantino said in a FIFA statement that the initiative would "foster investment into football for the purpose of helping the recovery process in post conflict areas."

Infantino is close to Trump and was wearing a red hat with the words "USA" and "45-47", representing Trump's two terms as president, at the meeting in Washington, D.C.

He previously handed Trump the FIFA "Peace Prize" in December during the World Cup Draw.

Pro-Palestinian activists have, since the outbreak of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza sought to get FIFA to ban Israel from its competitions, including through campaign group Game Over Israel.

Its director, Ashish Prashar, reacted angrily to the news. 

"Trump is using the biggest sport in the world to normalise genocide and in Infantino he has a sidekick who wants the attention bad enough he'll throw football's reputation under the bus for a seat at his table," he told The New Arab.

He said that Israel should have already been expelled from the international body over the genocide in the enclave, which has killed over 72,000 Palestinians, adding that this should happen even though a ceasefire is currently in place, in order to encourage some form of accountability.

Israel has killed hundreds of sportspeople and members of the football community during the Gaza war.

In August 2025 when it killed two players, Moath Alaa al-Hawajiri and Nasrallah al-Muqat'ah, as they were waiting for aid.

In June 2024, footballer Ahmad Abu al-Atta was killed alongside his wife and two children in an airstrike on their home in Gaza City, while manager Yousef al-Heela was killed in an attack on the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in April 2024.

"Infantino and every single FIFA employee will be building stadiums, pitches, and facilities on the graves of children. If football is a mirror of society, our society is sick. Our duty is not just to play ball, but to break this mirror," Prashar added.

Alongside FIFA, Europe's UEFA football body has also come under pressure to kick Israel out.

Israel's war has devastated most of the Gaza Strip, destroying basic infrastructure such as roads, homes, schools and hospitals.