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Middle East football regulators ask FIFA to suspend Israel from international tournaments

"I am trusting FIFA not to involve politics in football," Niv Goldstein noted

MOSCOW, February 8. /TASS/. National football federations in several Middle Eastern countries have submitted a joint letter to world football governing body FIFA, asking that it suspend the Israeli national football team from international tournaments, British broadcaster Sky Sports reported on Thursday.

According to Sky Sports: "A group of the Middle East's football associations has asked world football chiefs to ban Israel over the war on Hamas in Gaza."

The letter was signed by officials representing the football associations of 12 Middle Eastern countries, including Palestine, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Israeli Football Association CEO Niv Goldstein told Sky News that FIFA should refrain from mixing politics with sports.

"I am trusting FIFA not to involve politics in football," the British broadcaster quoted Goldstein as saying.

UEFA’s Secretary General Theodore Theodoridis said speaking later in the day at a press conference about possible sanctions in regard to the Israeli team: "There was no such discussion or such intension from UEFA administration."

Last month, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) reported that it decided to suspend the Israeli team indefinitely, citing security issues.

Tensions in the Middle East flared up again on October 7, 2023, after militants from the radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip, killing residents of border communities and taking people hostage. In response, Israel announced a total blockade of Gaza and launched a ground military operation in the enclave, also carrying out strikes on targets in the Strip and certain areas of Lebanon and Syria.

On December 1, the Israeli army accused Hamas of violating a ceasefire that had taken effect on November 24 and resumed combat operations in the Gaza Strip. Palestinians held the US responsible for the renewed Israeli aggression.

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