‘The Irish FA must now follow suit – they can’t sit this one out. Silence is not a neutral position’ – Patrick Corrigan

Amnesty International has called on the Irish Football Association (IFA) in Northern Ireland to support moves to suspend the Israel Football Association from UEFA and FIFA competitions, following the Football Association of Ireland (FAI)’s landmark vote at the weekend to formally seek the suspension.

At its Extraordinary General Meeting, the FAI voted by an overwhelming majority to submit a motion to UEFA calling for the immediate suspension of the Israel FA, citing breaches of UEFA and FIFA statutes including the organisation of clubs in illegal settlements in occupied Palestinian territory and failure to implement an effective anti-racism policy.

Amnesty International has written to the IFA, providing direct and substantiated evidence of breaches of FIFA’s own rules. In correspondence to Amnesty International last month, the IFA stated it “does not support the suspension of any member association unless there is a direct and substantiated breach of the governing bodies’ statutes.”

Amnesty’s latest letter sets out how the Israel FA permits football clubs operating in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank to play in the Israeli leagues – a violation of FIFA statutes, which prohibit clubs from playing on the territory of another member association without approval from that association. The Palestinian FA has never granted such authorisation.

The letter also references findings from the International Court of Justice and UN human rights bodies confirming the illegality of Israel’s settlement activity and the obligation on states and organisations not to support it, as well as UK government policy which states “settlements are illegal under international law”.

Patrick Corrigan, Amnesty International’s Northern Ireland Director, said:

“The FAI has taken a powerful and principled stand. The message is clear: football cannot ignore serious and substantiated breaches of international law and its own governing rules.

“The Irish FA must now follow suit – they can’t sit this one out. Silence is not a neutral position. The IFA can no longer claim to be waiting for evidence - that evidence has now been supplied.

“The Israel FA permits settlement clubs in the occupied West Bank to play in Israeli leagues. This breaks FIFA’s own statutes and entrenches illegal settlements. Football cannot preach fair play on the pitch while enabling human rights violations off it.

“The IFA must demonstrate leadership and show that football stands for fairness, equality and respect.”

In its letter to the IFA, Amnesty International notes that FIFA and UEFA have acted decisively before in the face of international law breaches, suspending South Africa during apartheid and suspending Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.