Will UEFA’s motto “Together for football” still include Israel?
The World Cup will be coming to North America next year. Another opportunity to watch the world’s best players act on a global stage, viewed by hundreds of millions, even billions. To, once again, suffer when the Netherlands fails to win. Football and politics should not mix, we are always told. However, that does not deter activists from tirelessly working towards their goal: the complete isolation of Israel.
Ban Israel from UEFA!
Apparently, UEFA is by now weighing action against the Israeli Football Association (IFA), which could lead to Israel being banned from international competitions. This would mean that all of its national teams in both men and women’s football, as well as clubs such as Maccabi Haifa, Hapoel Beer Sheva, and Maccabi Tel Aviv will be banned. This all flows from the campaign called “Game Over Israel,” which was launched in September 2025, with a call on European football federations and the overarching UEFA to ban all Israeli teams, clubs, and players from international and domestic competitions.
Yet this campaign was not launched in Europe. No, it was launched in New York, of all places. Why would this campaign have started in the United States? Upon closer inspection, it becomes immediately clear: the initiative is spearheaded by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC).
The opening statement by its National Executive Director in September Abed Ayoub was that Americans should not allow their stadiums to become platforms for “whitewashing war crimes.” When Ayoub made this statement it was already quite clear that Israel would not qualify for the World Cup next year. Because, if Ayoub is even remotely aware of this, he would know that watching Israeli football makes you want to pull your hair out. Every time we watch qualifiers for the World Cup or the European Championships we are disappointed. We are hopeful, we cheer, but the national team never makes it. The last and only time Israel performed at an international stage was when it played in the 1970 World Cup – and did rather well, actually. So, there was virtually no chance of Israel making an appearance in any American stadium next year. I still support them, of course – hope for success never fades.
Next to this ludicrous statement, Ayoub expressed his determination to see Israel banned in Europe, while sitting comfortably in the United States. For good measure, the Reuters article mentions that the ADC is working with several European partners. But, make no mistake, this is the ADC’s little party.
Who has joined the party?
The ADC considers itself to be truly Arab and fully American, an organization dedicated to combating discrimination against Arab Americans. But why does an Arab American organization concern itself with football, all of a sudden? In another September remark, it stated that Israel needed to know that the game was up and that there was no room for “war criminals.” Apparently, Israeli footballers are now accused of this.
First of all, “Game Over Israel” has a nice little website. The layout and menu is a little simplistic, but who cares. As it turns out, the initiative is joined by a number of groups, such as the Hind Rajab Foundation and CodePink. For those who do not know, the Hind Rajab Foundation was co-founded by a bothersome figure: Dyab Abou Jahjah. Abou Jahjah is a perennial anti-Israel agitator of Lebanese-Belgian origin. He once founded the Arab European League, which was a Nasserite, pan-Arabist organization with a particular fixation on Israel – it was dissolved in 2007; he is a known Hezbollah supporter; he once stated that he wanted to fight Israel in the Second Lebanon War – of course, he never did; and now he created the Hind Rajab Foundation. In other words, Abou Jahjah’s agenda is rather clear. As for CodePink, well, it is always useful to have an anti-Israel Jew such as Medea Benjamin to provide cover for your campaign.
Another interesting detail is that the campaign is supported by the usual suspects. So you find an endorsement by Bobby from Bob Vylan – who never would have garnered substantial international attention had he not shouted “death, death to the IDF” at Glastonbury – as well as an endorsement by some actor called Liam Cunningham, who had earlier joined the Gaza Flotilla, alongside a certain activist in a frog hat. But Bobby is very clear in his message. The boycott should be all-encompassing: Israeli national teams, clubs, and individual players should be banned. However, Israeli players are active on European pitches already. So, that means that Ajax Amsterdam’s Oscar Gloukh should be fired; or FC Twente’s Stav Lemkin should be banned from playing; or Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise’s Anan Khalaili should be let go; or Mohammad Abu Fani should be removed from Hungarian Ferencvaros’ roster. That is the goal.
Questionable motives
The ADC is the main sponsor of this initiative, so I will focus on them. The sympathy for Gaza based on Arab solidarity is obvious. However, this goes beyond sympathy for Palestinians, criticism of Israeli policy or the desire to achieve a long-lasting peace that will benefit both Israelis and Palestinians.
First of all, “Game Over Israel” continues to intensify its boycott campaign, despite the ceasefire. It has met with UEFA and continues to apply pressure. Clearly, the ceasefire does not meet the ADC’s demands.
Secondly, Ayoub’s statement about “war criminals.” Does this mean the ADC accuses Israeli footballers – most of whom have not even served in the military, due to their profession – of committing crimes? If so, it should provide evidence.
Thirdly, the ADC seems to be unaware of the strong presence of Arab Israeli footballers in all the top and lower leagues. Except for Beitar Jerusalem’s horrible ban on Arab and Muslim players, virtually every top team has a few Arab players on its roster. Indeed, there are even two Arab teams at the top level, Bnei Sakhnin and Maccabi Bnei Reineh, who have Jewish players on their rosters, too. And the men’s and women’s national teams include Arab players in both cases. So, boycotting Israel affects not just Jewish Israelis, but Arab Israelis as well.
Fourthly, Israeli clubs do perform in international competitions, such as the UEFA Champions League, the Europa League or the Conference League. However, Israeli teams usually perform at the lowest level, because success in the Champions League is difficult to achieve, let alone reach the group stage. An important reason would be the way the concentration of money has destroyed a diverse competition, as most of the teams that stand a chance of winning come from Spain, Germany, France, Italy or England – with the latter especially having become the playground of several sovereign wealth funds and billionaires, which have pumped so much money into teams, that it has become near impossible to compete.
Thus, if the ADC and its partners have an issue with the Israeli government or the IDF, it is odd to demand a boycott of Israeli football. None of the footballers are part of Netanyahu’s government, as far as I know, quite a number of Israeli footballers are Arab, and Israeli teams sporadically qualify for the group stages of international club competitions. Considering this, the key driver becomes obvious: it is based on a relentless mission to fully ostracize Israel, due to the country’s Jewish character.
Anti-Israel activism, plain and simple
First of all, Arab solidarity. If that would be the reason, then why have I not seen the ADC and its partners organize campaigns with the title “Game Over Iran”? That would be linked to the continued oppression of the Arabs of al-Ahvaz by the Islamic Republic. Another option would be “Game Over Türkiye” for its recently extended military footprint in the Arab-majority states of Syria and Iraq. And yet no active commitment by the ADC in these cases. In addition, Arab solidarity does not seem to entail sympathy for Arab Israelis slaughtered by Hamas and its accomplices on October 7th. Nor did it convey any support for the release of Arab Israeli hostages. Apparently, the ADC’s Arab solidarity has its limits.
Secondly, some of the curious statements and actions for which the ADC bears responsibility. So, in 2010 it praised former White House correspondent Helen Thomas with its Mehdi Courage in Journalism award, despite her outrageous call – probably, because of it – on a rabbi that Jews needed to “get out of Palestine and go to Poland, Germany, the United States or anywhere else.” Another example would be its partnership with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which is notoriously anti-Israel, with members openly praising Hamas for October 7th and even arguing that Israel did not have the right to defend itself against terror attacks – that seems to show that the organization’s reasoning is anchored in the concept of the dhimma, where Jews were expected to endure humiliation and violence, without responding. As for the ADC itself, it has provided support for BDS, has hosted ArabCon in September which saw numerous speakers vilifying Zionism, peddling antisemitic tropes, and expressing praise for October 7th, and it endorsed the 2025 People’s Conference of Palestine, where speakers openly praised October 7th, too.
Israel belongs in Asia
On a regular basis you will find Western commenters on football websites asking why Israel is even part of UEFA, as it is not a European country. In fact, that comment is valid. Israel should be part of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). However, it was part of it and even one of the co-founders. So, what happened?
On May 8, 1954, thirteen Asian countries founded the AFC. Israel was among them and founded the organization together with Muslim countries, such as Pakistan, Indonesia, and even Afghanistan. But everything would change once the AFC would embark on the expansion of its membership by adding Arab football associations. By doing that, it invited the Arab ban on Israel into its midst.
Boycotts became frequent. So, Lebanese and Iraqi clubs refused to play Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Tel Aviv in the 1970s, leading to walkovers for the latter teams; and national Arab teams repeatedly refused to play Israel. Then, after the Yom Kippur War, it became clear that the military campaigns failed to succeed, which is when the boycott movement gathered steam. So, OPEC decided to punish Western states for supporting Israel by inflating oil prices – the Netherlands was punished and this led to the so-called “autoloze zondagen” (“car-free Sundays”), due to shortages. And in 1974, sadly, the AFC voted to oust Israel, made possible by the boycott orchestrated by Arab countries. Israel was expelled. After years of wandering in the football wilderness – Oceania was kind enough to allow Israel to join its federation for a number of years – UEFA finally admitted Israel in the early 1990s and it has remained a member since then.
Interestingly enough, no call was ever uttered either to bar Iraq from joining the AFC in 1970, despite its intensified persecution of the 3,000 strong Iraqi Jewish community post-1967, characterized by expropriation, ostracization, and scores of arrests that led to abductions, torture, and public hangings; nor was it an issue for the AFC to admit Syria in 1970.
The real reason for the boycott: Israel’s existence
In my opinion, this campaign led by the ADC is simply a continuation of the boycott movement that ousted Israel from Asia. Today, the mission is furthered by NGOs, instead of governments; by Western activists, instead of Arab football associations. The ADC is just the latest addition to a long list of actors whose wish is to turn Israel into an outcast.
UEFA must keep the expulsion of Israel from the AFC in mind. This attempt by the ADC is more of the same. Agreeing to boycott Israeli football would reward anti-Israel activists with a prize they have been seeking for many years; it would further Israel’s isolation in the realm of sports and boost activists to increase pressure on other branches as well; it would satisfy those whose burning wish is to see Israel disappear from the map. By isolating it globally, they hope to initiate the first step towards this goal.
UEFA claims that football and politics should be kept separate. We will see if they can remain true to their own beliefs.
