Why does Fifa refuse to sanction Israel? | Coll McCail | MEE Opinion

In this opinion video, writer and activist Coll McCail asks a question: why does Fifa refuse to sanction Israel? As Israel begins its 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign, McCail argues that football’s governing body is once again shielding oppression behind the language of neutrality.

He draws historical parallels, recalling how Fifa handed the 1978 World Cup to Argentina’s brutal dictatorship, and how it forced Chile’s national team to play in a stadium where political prisoners had just been tortured and killed.

McCail says Fifa turns a blind eye to Israel’s illegal settlement clubs and rampant fan racism, even as it destroyed Gaza’s footballing infrastructure and killed more than 350 Palestinian players and coaches since October 2023. Gaza’s stadiums have been reduced to rubble, and the last one standing is now a shelter for thousands of displaced civilians.

He notes the hypocrisy: Russia was banned within days of invading Ukraine, while Israel faces no consequences. He argues that this reflects Fifa’s deeper legacy as an institution that legitimises colonial violence, privileging Western power while punishing resistance from the Global South.

But amid destruction, he sees defiance: the Palestinian national team making history in the Asia Cup, and supporters worldwide, from Glasgow to Casablanca, demanding action. He concludes: “While football’s governing body continues its decades-long commitment to legitimising the crimes of imperialism, the world’s terraces wave the Palestinian flag".

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