Hawzah News Agency- Dozens of athletes have joined rights groups in calling for the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) to suspend Israel due to rights abuses against Palestinians.
In a letter delivered to UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin on Tuesday, Athletes for Peace, a group that includes more than 70 sports professionals, backed a call for the governing body to sever ties with the Israel Football Association (IFA).
“No shared venue, stage, or arena in international civil society should welcome a regime that commits genocide, apartheid, and other crimes against humanity'', the letter, penned by Game Over Israel, read.
“Israel’s continued impunity for such crimes will only be ended by the weight of collective conscientious action, including measures to block their entry to sporting or cultural events and activities''.
Human rights advocacy groups, including the Hind Rajab Foundation and the Gaza Tribunal, also signed the letter.
The petition marks a continuation of a campaign demanding that UEFA ban Israel from its events, citing atrocities committed during its war on Gaza.
The rights groups’ letter argued that Israel has used football to legitimise its occupation in those areas.
The country, for example, allows clubs from illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank to participate in its professional leagues, in an apparent violation of FIFA rules.
“UEFA’s relationship with the IFA – providing funding and allowing Israeli teams to play in international tournaments – means that UEFA may also be facilitating these violations and may themselves be accountable''.
Source: AL JAZEERA
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