May 16 – FIFA and its administration have once again kicked the issue of Israeli settlement clubs into the long grass, a tradition the world governing body has maintained for more than a decade.
At the end of her intervention at the 75th FIFA Congress in Asuncion, Paraguay, Susan Shalabi, the vice-president of the Palestinian FA (PFA), said: “Let’s not keep passing the bucket from one committee to another while football in Palestine is being erased.”
But minutes later, FIFA secretary general Mattias Grafstrom did just that in response to the PFA’s request to urge the governance, audit and compliance committee to conclude an investigation into Israeli settlements clubs in the West Bank within a month – pass the bucket. The Israeli FA did not take the floor to respond.
“The matter was discussed by the governance, audit and compliance committee and the work of the governance, audit and compliance committee remains on-going, as does the investigation of the disciplinary committee,” said Grafstrom.
He stressed that they are conducting their work with diligence. The PFA may disagree. The Palestinians have been campaigning for action against settlements clubs for 15 years, but FIFA have each and every time manoeuvred to dodge a final decision on the matter.
Last month the Asian Football Confederation called for a swift resolution to the issue but FIFA’s executive under president Gianni Infantino refused to take notice of the member request. There was no timeline given by Grafstrom in his rapid and brutal shutting down of the Palestinians.
Shalabi emphasised that last year FIFA boss Gianni Infantino described the matter as “urgent”, but that “since then there has been no timeline, no clarity, and no due process.”
“All we are asking for is a clear update on the status of the matter and an exact date in which the investigation will be concluded.”
She invoked the FIFA Statutes and demanded that the world governing body uphold its own rules.
In her powerful speech Shalabi said “Our issue is stuck in a highly politicised process…Visible, undeniable, but sadly ignored.”
Shalabi closed her speech by saying that: “We need to act now.” Yet again, FIFA signalled their intention to do the opposite.
Spontaneous applause erupted throughout the Congress at her closing, the only time in the whole Congress delegates applauded without the instruction of FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
It was not a great moment for FIFA, this administration, or its ‘Football Unites the World’ tagline.
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1747439670labto1747439670ofdlr1747439670owedi1747439670sni@i1747439670tnuk.1747439670ardni1747439670mas1747439670. Additional reporting by moc.l1747439670labto1747439670ofdlr1747439670owedi1747439670sni@n1747439670osloh1747439670cin.l1747439670uap1747439670
