Earlier this week, the United Nations Human Rights Office ramped up the pressure, calling on the bodies “to suspend Israel as a country team from international football, as a necessary response to address the ongoing genocide in the occupied Palestinian territory”.
And last week, Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called for Israel to be excluded from international sports, saying: "Israel cannot continue to use any international platform to whitewash its image".
The vote, believed to be taking place today, comes just one month after UEFA arranged for a banner which read, “Stop killing children, stop killing civilians” to be unfurled at the Super Cup final between Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham Hotspur in Udine, Italy.
UEFA unveiled a banner reading "Stop killing children, Stop killing civilians" during the Super Cup final in August (Image: Getty)AFP via Getty Images
Commenting at the time, the Campaign Against Antisemitism described the stunt as “selective outrage” and a “double standard”, saying: “UEFA has said nothing about the Jewish hostages kept in barbaric captivity for almost two years, nor about the incessant attacks on Israeli civilians throughout this war from terrorists in Gaza and throughout the Middle East.
“But all of sudden, they have chosen a Spurs match – a club commonly associated with the Jewish community – to unfurl this banner.”
They went on to add: “For centuries, Europe has traded in the blood libel that Jews kill children, and clearly the trope remains as popular as ever. UEFA says that ‘the message is clear.’
“After two years with no acknowledgement of the Jewish children murdered, maimed and traumatised by this war, the message is clear indeed.”
Many UEFA members are said to see the Israel ban as comparable to the one imposed on Russia, which has been banned from European competition since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
If the ban is imposed, the Israeli squad would be prevented from continuing its campaign to compete at next year’s World Cup, taking place in North America.
Israel’s culture and sports minister Miki Zohar has said he is working with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the chair of the Israel Football Association, Moshe Zuares, to prevent the move.
A statement from Zohar’s office said: “The right step now is to act responsibly with the professionals and not to make statements, and this is how all the parties involved in the efforts are acting. We will address this later.”
