Hawzah News Agency- the recent atrocities committed by the Israeli regime against defenseless civilians in Gaza have also shaken the European football scene.
Last month Suleiman al-Obeid, a footballer known as the “Palestinian Pele”, was killed by Israeli forces in Gaza while queueing for food.
Israel has now killed 774 Palestinian athletes and officials, including 355 footballers, according to the PFA. Close to 300 sports facilities in Gaza and the occupied West Bank have been destroyed by Israel.
Some clubs in Europe have informally requested UEFA to prevent fixtures with Israeli teams in European competitions. However, UEFA has so far denied receiving any official request in this regard.
This course of action has led to accusations of double standards, with Russia swiftly banned following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
In Israel, though, the mounting worldwide pressure can be felt.
Yoav Borowitz, sports correspondent Israeli channel, said that "Israeli players find it difficult getting contracts in senior leagues.
"There are still a lot of Israeli players playing abroad, but there are many more cases of players who could have gone to Europe and didn't go because it's very difficult to bring in an Israeli player'', Borowitz told MEE.
According to Borowitz, the local league in Israel is also affected, as "it's harder to bring good players to Israel. Players don't want to come because they think it's dangerous and because of the bad image''.
Israel's removal from international football can happen quite quickly. Meanwhile, the Italian Football Federation has formally called for the temporary suspension of Israel from all international matches.
Such a suspension will bury Israeli football. The league will continue to exist, but the number of foreign players will go down, the amount of investment will decline.
"Any suspension from an international competition constitutes a direct blow to football in Israel on the competitive, economic and especially image levels'', Mustafa told MEE.
"If the national team is expelled from international competitions, it would be a fatal blow'', Borowitz said.
This is a first step on the road to political isolation, which will be very difficult to deal with. the Norwegian Football Association announced that it would allocate proceeds from a friendly World Cup warm-up game to humanitarian aid for the oppressed people of Gaza.
Observers believe that as the atrocities continue and public pressure grows, the standing of Israeli football in international forums will become increasingly unstable.
Source: MEDDLE EAST EYE
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