The Trump administration will work to prevent FIFA banning Israel from international football ahead of the 2026 World Cup, Sky News can reveal.
Football’s world and European governing bodies were urged this week by United Nations (UN) advisory experts to suspend all Israeli teams over the war in Gaza.
FIFA has not responded to the UN special rapporteurs as Israel’s men continue trying to qualify for next year’s World Cup, which is largely being played in the United States.
And the US government, through Marco Rubio’s state department, has made a direct intervention to stop sporting sanctions being imposed.
A state department spokesperson told Sky News: “We will absolutely work to fully stop any effort to attempt to ban Israel’s national soccer team from the World Cup.”
FIFA launched an investigation last year into allegations of discrimination raised by the Palestine Football Association against the Israeli FA.
There is also an investigation into whether teams from Israeli settlements in the West Bank playing in Israeli competitions breaches FIFA regulations.
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FIFA President Gianni Infantino has a close relationship with US President Donald Trump and is a regular visitor to the White House. He has been in New York this week meeting world leaders around the UN General Assembly.
During a speech after collecting an Atlantic Council Global Citizen Award last night, Mr Infantino referenced the war while speaking on bringing people together in “a divided world, in an aggressive world”.
In an indirect reference to the challenge of sanctioning countries over wars, Mr Infantino said there are 80 countries where there are conflicts.
He added: “I suffer when I see children suffer. I cry when I see mothers crying, whether it’s in Gaza… anywhere in the world.”
Sky News revealed yesterday that discussions are taking place at high levels in European football about whether Israel should be banned but no decision has been taken.
Officials have been deliberating over why Russia remains banned over the war in Ukraine but Israel is clear to continue playing in European club competitions and on the international stage as the death toll mounts.
UEFA has previously publicly said there is a difference in how the wars started – with Russia launching an unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and Israel responding to the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks.
But a UN commission of inquiry has now said Israel is committing genocide in Gaza – accusations rejected by Israel.
That led to UN advisers calling for Israeli teams to be expelled from world football.
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“Sports cannot be business as usual and something has to change and Israel has to be excluded,” Alexandra Xanthaki, the UN special rapporteur for cultural rights, told Sky News.
“I think that when we talk about teams, national teams, not individual athletes, of states that are subject to valid claims of genocide… this is where this is for sure a red line.”
Among the athletes killed during the war is the footballer known as the Palestinian Pele – Suleiman al Obeid – who the Palestine FA announced in August died in an Israeli airstrike.
The Palestine Olympic Committee this week said the Israeli sports system has been an “active participation” in war.
“Over 1,000 athletes have had their lives extinguished. Thousands more are wounded, maimed or disabled,” said POC President Jibril Rajoub, who also heads the FA.
“Our stadiums, our facilities, our dreams, all have been ground into dust.”
FIFA did not respond to a request for comment.
