UEFA 'held meetings' with pro-Palestine campaigners on Israel football ban after ceasefire

Europe’s football governing body, UEFA, has reportedly held recent meetings with a pro-Palestinian campaign group over the potential ban of Israeli football teams from international competition.

UEFA executives met with representatives from the Game over Israel organisation even after a ceasefire in the war-battered Gaza Strip was announced, to discuss the feasibility and mechanisms in which a ban on Israeli football teams could be enforced, according to The Athletic.

UEFA had been close to calling for a vote on barring Israel from competing back in September, but this was called off after a US-brokered ceasefire was announced one day after the vote was due to take place.

Among those in-person meetings occurred on 15 October in Switzerland, where UEFA’s headquarters are located – five days after the ceasefire in Gaza took effect.

Game Over Israel launched its campaign in September of this year, urging UEFA to ban Israel from participating in international competition as Tel Aviv pounded and besieged the Gaza Strip.

The campaign group displayed billboards in New York’s Times Square, as well as an advertisement in The LA Times, which read: "Israel is committing genocide," "Soccer federations: Boycott Israel," and "No sport for war criminals".

Israeli forces have killed more than 70,000 Palestinians in the enclave during over two years of war in acts labelled as a genocide by the UN, experts and human rights organisations. Israel’s military campaign has come to a halt after a ceasefire was declared on 10 October. Despite the truce, Israel has carried out numerous violations, killing well over 350 Palestinians since.

Earlier in November, representatives from Game Over Israel handed a letter to UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin stressing the need for a boycott and expressing concern over its inaction on suspending Israel, despite global calls from fans, pro-Palestine activists and UN experts. The letter was co-signed by 70 athletes, including former Manchester United player Paul Pogba.

Additionally, Game Over Israel had pointed to UEFA’s decision to bar Russia from competing in European football in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, as well as previous bans on nations that have breached international law decades ago, such as Yugoslavia.

It remains unclear if UEFA will enforce a ban on Israel, according to The Athletic, though the football body is "closely monitoring" two legal proceedings put forward by Ireland and Switzerland, which could oblige it to impose a ban on Israel.

In early November, the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) voted to submit a formal motion to UEFA, seeking to bar Israel from European competition, stating that the country has violated two of the body's statutes, and accusing it of "failing to impose" anti-racism policy.

Another similar case will be filed in Switzerland in the coming weeks, The Athletic said, mostly based on Israel’s breaches of international law in its onslaught on the Gaza Strip, and occupation and violence in the West Bank.

Israel has been a member of UEFA since 1994, permitting its national team and clubs to compete on the continent.

During the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign, Israel failed to qualify after finishing third in its group, losing key matches to Norway and Italy – both of which protested Israel’s presence in the games.