Sport is meant to unite, not divide. But when it comes to Israel, that ideal collapses.
European soccer’s governing body, UEFA, is facing mounting pressure to suspend Israeli teams from participating in European football competitions, including both Israel’s national team, currently participating in World Cup qualifiers, and Maccabi Tel Aviv, competing in European competition.
According to a senior figure at one European soccer federation speaking to the BBC, “many nations are pushing for a vote on whether to throw Israel out of European soccer,” and crucially, “the leadership of governing body UEFA wants to act.”
The campaign gained momentum following the UN commission of inquiry’s declaration that Israel is “committing genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza. On Friday, the Turkish Football Association demanded that Israel be banned from football, while 48 athletes signed a joint letter calling for the country’s suspension.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has been particularly vocal, asking, “Why was Russia kicked out after invading Ukraine and not Israel after it invaded Gaza?” His position is clear. “Until the savagery ends, Russia and Israel should not participate in international competitions.”
Recognizing the threat, the United States has taken a firm stance. A State Department spokesperson explained that ahead of calls to ban Israel from participating in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which the US is co-hosting, “We will absolutely work to fully stop any effort to attempt to ban Israel’s national soccer team from the World Cup.”
The anti-Israel campaign goes beyond soccer. In cycling, the Israel-Premier Tech team has faced exclusion and harassment.
They were recently barred from next month’s Giro dell’Emilia in Bologna over “public safety concerns” after pro-Palestinian protests disrupted the Vuelta a España, with the final stage abandoned when protesters occupied the race route. Race organizers cited the need to protect “the safety of all athletes, technical staff, and spectators.”
Sánchez’s role is merely the latest in what appears to be an abhorrent anti-Israel obsession from a European leader. After the abandonment of the Vuelta’s final stage, the Spanish prime minister praised their actions, expressing “admiration for the Spanish people who are mobilizing for just causes like Palestine.”
His support for disruption as a lawful protest should set alarm bells ringing. A world leader should not encourage the collapse of sporting events because he is anti-Israeli. Even more troubling, the Israel-Premier Tech team’s title sponsor has urged them to drop the word “Israel” from their name entirely.
Israel becoming a pariah state
We are quickly reaching the stage where even the name Israel is becoming a pariah.
The UCI, the world cycling governing body, made a noble stand when it stated that it will “continue to welcome Israeli athletes at its competitions despite calls for sporting boycotts,” and for that, it should be commended.
The comparison with Russia also reveals a rudimentary injustice of this campaign. Russia was rightly banned from international competition after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Soccer’s governing body, FIFA, and the International Olympic Committee acted decisively because Russia’s actions were a legitimate violation of international law for territorial gain.
Israel’s situation is vastly different, yet sporting bodies increasingly treat it as the same. Norwegian Football Federation President Lise Klaveness acknowledged her organization “cannot and will not be indifferent to the humanitarian suffering,” speaking of “disproportionate attacks against civilians in Gaza.”
The selective outrage against Israel also has practical consequences. The Italian Football Association has spoken about the “challenges” of playing Israel when they host the team next month. Israel’s upcoming qualifier against Norway in Oslo, the same week, takes place under similar clouds of controversy. Athletes are being asked to compete in hostile environments where their safety cannot be guaranteed, just because of their nationality.
International sport is on the cusp of joining the BDS movement. It has the opportunity to preserve sport as an even playing field, where nationalities of sporting personnel and their governments’ actions are mutually exclusive from one another. Or, it can transform competition into another battlefield of geopolitical warfare.
Treating Israel, a democracy fighting for survival against enemies who openly call for its destruction, as equivalent to Putin’s Russia is dangerously misguided and demonstrably incorrect.
Sport should unite, not divide. Israel should not become a sporting pariah for the crime of refusing to be annihilated.