World soccer’s governing body, FIFA, has again postponed its decision on a Palestinian bid to have Israel suspended from international soccer over the nearly 11-month old war against Hamas in Gaza.
FIFA said late Friday that it would now consider the Palestine Football Association’s (PFA) proposals in October.
The Palestinians first proposed suspending in Israel in May, and the Zurich-based sports body had previously said that the issue would be addressed in July, only to delay the decision until after the Paris Olympics in August.
The Washington, D.C.-based B’nai Brith last month pushed back against efforts to sanction Israeli soccer, and urged FIFA to reject any such sanction against the Israeli soccer team.
The international Jewish organization had written to the heads of the world soccer body, calling on them “to use your good and high office to thwart any sanction against the [Israel Football Association] based on Israel’s just war of defense against Hamas and Hezbollah terrorist organizations.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz has also threatened to ban the head of the Palestinian soccer association, who initiated the move, from traveling abroad.
PFA head Jibril Rajoub, who has expressed support for Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre, is a senior official in the Palestinian Authority.
