Uefa is set to make a decision next week on whether to suspend Israel, with most members of its executive committee understood to be in favour of a ban.
A panel of United Nations advisers has called on Fifa and Uefa to suspend Israel after a UN Commission of Inquiry concluded that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
Sources have told The Times that Uefa plans to call an emergency executive committee next week to vote on the issue and that a large majority of committee members and federations are in favour of suspension — pointing out that Russia has been banned from European competition since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Uefa, of which Israel has been a member since 1994, has held serious discussions at the highest level this week over Israel’s actions in Gaza and how it should respond. In August, Uefa organised a banner at the Super Cup final between Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham Hotspur, which read, “Stop Killing Children, Stop Killing Civilians”
The Times revealed last month that several European clubs had asked Uefa if there was any way they could avoid playing Israeli opponents.
A suspension of Israel by Uefa would increase the pressure on Fifa to follow suit, but football’s world governing body is in a difficult position because of the close relationship between its president, Gianni Infantino, and Donald Trump.