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Palestinians are threatening to go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport after their attempt to have FIFA declare Israeli soccer teams illegal, was thwarted.
The Palestinians have again failed to push FIFA to declare Israeli teams illegal, a motion which was slated to be discussed at a meeting in Switzerland on Thursday.
A joint diplomatic effort by several Israeli government bodies has succeeded in thwarting the Palestinian proposal.
Minister of Strategic Affairs Gilad Erdan wrote on his Facebook page on Thursday that “after efforts, we were successful in thwarting another Palestinian attempt to have Israeli soccer teams banned from FIFA. This is our message to FIFA and all those who support boycotts on Israel – leave soccer out of politics.”
The Palestinians have for years made a series of soccer-related complaints against Israel and have attempted to ban Israel from international sports events.
Jibril Rajoub, currently the head of the Palestinian Football Association and formerly a terrorist, last year led a failed drive to have Israel suspended from FIFA over various issues.
This time, the Palestinians claimed the Israel Football Association is breaking FIFA rules that bar a member association from holding games on another member’s territory without permission. They based their claim on a 2012 UN General Assembly vote that gave Palestine non-member state status at the United Nations and supposedly recognized Judea and Samaria as Palestinian land.
Israel rejected the Palestinian campaign as an attempt to politicize sports, while anti-Israel organizations, including the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement supported it.
The Palestinians are threatening to take the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, an international quasi-judicial body established to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne.
By: United with Israel Staff
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