47 international athletes urge UEFA to ban Israel from competitions

Forty-seven professional athletes have called on the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) to suspend Israeli clubs and national teams from international tournaments, citing Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza.

In a petition released to the media, the group stated: “Sport is not neutral in the face of injustice. Silence means acknowledging that the lives of some are more precious than the lives of others. We believe in one principle for all peoples and nations: justice without double standards.”

The majority of signatories are footballers, including Crystal Palace and Mali international Cheick Doucouré, Morocco national team star Hakim Ziyech, and former Dutch international Anwar El Ghazi.

The move follows a 23 September appeal by eight United Nations experts, who urged both UEFA and FIFA to bar Israel from international competitions, citing what they described as “the ongoing genocide in the Palestinian territories.”

Since October 2023, Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza has killed at least 66,005 Palestinians and wounded 168,162 others, most of them women and children. A famine caused by Israel’s ongoing ban on the entry of humanitarian aid including food and medicine has also claimed 442 lives, including 147 children.

READ: UEFA set to vote on suspending Israel’s membership over Gaza war