Israelis will be allowed to attend the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Hassan al-Thawadi, secretary-general of the supreme committee, which is in charge of the tournament, told ESPN earlier this week.
“Everyone is welcome,” he said. “We do not mix sport and politics, but we would hope that Palestinians are able to make it, too.”
Like many Arab countries, Qatar does not have diplomatic relations with Israel.
Israel has accused Qatar of supporting the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. Nevertheless, it permits Qatar to transfer humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
Back in 2009 when Qatar was bidding on hosting the event, al-Thawadi also said that Israel would be welcome to compete were its athletes to qualify for the games.
Article 22 of FIFA’s code of ethics prohibits discrimination of countries and banning people based upon country of origin.
It states that “offend[ing] the dignity or integrity of a country, private person or group of people through contemptuous, discriminatory or denigratory words or actions on account of race, skin color, ethnicity, nationality, social origin, gender, disability, language, religion, political opinion or any other opinion, wealth, birth or any other status, sexual orientation or any other reason” is not permitted.
