A group of United Nations experts has urged the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) and Europe’s football association UEFA to suspend Israel over accusations it is committing genocide in Gaza, AFP reports.
“Sports must reject the perception that it is business as usual,” the eight independent UN experts said in a statement.
“National teams representing states that commit massive human rights violations can and should be suspended.”
The experts, who are mandated by the UN Human Rights Council but who do not speak on behalf of the United Nations, said suspending Israel was “a necessary response to address the ongoing genocide”.
The experts said countries that host international organisations and sporting competitions with Israel must not “remain neutral in the face of genocide”.
They noted that they were calling for a boycott of “the state of Israel and not individual players”.
“There should be no discrimination or sanctions against individual players because of their origin or nationality,” said the experts, which include Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on rights in the Palestinian territories, and members of the UN working group on business and human rights.
