List of petitions calling for Israel to be banned from sports

It has been suggested that this article be merged into Boycotts of Israel in sports. (Discuss) Proposed since August 2024.

Demanding that Israel be banned from international sports have been in the works for years and have grown louder due to the Israel–Hamas war.^[1][2] While Russia's sports have been sanctioned for its illegal annexation of Ukrainian territory,^[3] Israel's occupation of Palestine for more than 75 years has never led to a ban.^[4] Those opposed to banning Israel argue that politics should not interfere in sports.^[1] IOC has rejected calls for banning Israel,^[5] stating that the Israel–Hamas war cannot be compared to other wars.^[3]

International sanctions have been an effective method of punishing those who violate international laws since 1972, when the South African team was banned from the Olympic Games for twenty-three years.^[2][6] In 2014, the European Union passed sanctions against Russia after it illegally annexed Ukraine's territory.^[6] Many calls for Israel to be banned from international sports make reference to the sport bans resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.^[7][8][9]

Referring to FIFA's suspending of Russia and South Africa during apartheid, Jibril Rajoub, the head of the Palestinian Football Association and the Palestine Olympic Committee said that more than 250 Palestinian athletes, most of them soccer players, have been killed in Gaza and several soccer stadiums have been destroyed. He said that the presence of six teams from Israeli settlements was a clear violation of FIFA regulations.^[10]

In February 2024, the twelve-member West Asian Football Federation sent an open letter to FIFA, all of its national member associations, and the sport's six regional confederations, imploring them to boycott Israel for its alleged war crimes and the killing of civilians. The federation's president, Prince Ali bin Hussein, also wrote to EU members and Britain's native countries imploring their engagement.^[11][12]

Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) is a movement launched in 2005 to rally popular support for enactment of sanctions against Israel as an allegedly apartheid state.^[6] In 2012 and again in 2016, BDS called for an Olympic ban ,^[1] and accused FIFA in 2023 of consistently ignoring pro-Pslestine calls.^[13] They complained that FIFA did not hold Israel accountable for its alleged violations of FIFA's statutes, particularly for Israel's inclusion of teams in illegal settlements. Yet they alleged that FIFA had instead sanctioned fan clubs that expressed support for Palestinian human rights.^[3]

In 2024, more than 23,560 people signed an online petition asking FIFA to ban Israel in response to the alleged killing of Palestinian footballers by Israeli forces and the destruction of sports venues in Gaza. The petition, created by 4Sports Kuwait, lists Israel's alleged sports violations in Gaza during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.^[13]

In January 2024, Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 (DiEM25) launched a petition calling for suspension of Israel from world sport "until it fully complies with international law and sports regulations," alleging that multiple sports organisations, including the International Olympic Committee (IOC), FIFA, UEFA, and FIBA were "complicit as they allow a continuous participation of the occupying apartheid regime in their events."^[13][1] One of the petition's co-organizers, Katrina Pijtelovic, decried the double standards of FIFA and other international bodies in punishing Russia for killing Ukrainian civilians and remaining silent about Israel's actions.^[1]

In 2023, when Israel turned Yarmouk Stadium into a Palestinian detention camp, where they kept Palestinians in poor conditions, the Jordan Football Association (JFA) issued a statement demanding international sanctions against Israel's sports associations, including bans on Israel's participation in world championships.^[3][14]

The Palestinian Football Association (PFA) has called on FIFA to expel the Israel Football Association (IFA) amid the ongoing Israel–Hamas war. The PFA say they want to address alleged human rights violations committed by Israel, as well as the alleged discrimination in its league and its recognition of teams illegally located in Palestinian territory.^[15] PFA has also called on IOC and FIFA to investigate alleged Israeli crimes against Palestinian athletes.^[3][13][16] Albeit unsuccessful, PFA had made a similar appeal in 2015 when Israel restricted the movement of Palestinian athletes.^[16]

Prior the 2024 Olympic Games, three hundred Palestinian sports clubs asked the IOC to exclude Israel from the games.^[1] Palestinian sports and youth clubs had also called for Israel's exclusion from the games as part of a wider boycott campaign for alleged violation of IOC principles. Both calls went unheeded.^[2]

Hundreds of Irish athletes signed an open letter calling for a ban on Israeli sport. Shortly afterwards, six Irish basketballers boycotted a women's tournament match against Israel in early 2024, while, at a subsequent EuroBasket 2025 qualifier, Irish players declined to shake hands with the Israeli team.^[1]

The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel has called on IOC, FIFA, and several other sporting bodies to exclude Israel over alleged human rights violations.^[11]

In February 2024, a group of left-wing politicians in France called on the IOC President Thomas Bach to exclude Israel from the upcoming games.^[2] They proposed that Israeli athletes compete impartially in the games without state symbols, i.e., the Israeli flag and national anthem, just as Russian and Belarusian athletes competed at the Tokyo Olympics.^[17]

In 2015, some public figures, including Ken Loach, Bob Russell, Ahdaf Soueif and John Berger, wrote an open letter urging FIFA to suspend the IFA. Even earlier, some footballers had condemned Israel's plans to host the 2012 UEFA Under-21 Championship. In particular, the Norwegian national team coach Egil Olsen supported an academic and cultural boycott of Israel.^[18] Former English soccer player Gary Lineker called on FIFA and the IOC to boycott of Israel in January 2024, angering pro-Israel figures.^[19][11] Ken McCue, a member of the Irish group Insaka-Ireland, disclosed that some Irish sportspeople were likely to mount their own call for Israel to be banned from the Olympics, citing similar bans on Russia and South Africa.^[16]

Both FIFA and IOC have refused to condemn the ongoing Israel–Hamas war and the resulting humanitarian crisis, with an IOC spokesperson arguing in November 2023 that the situation was not comparable to any other war.^[3][20] While Russia has been sanctioned for its illegal annexation of Ukrainian territory,^[3][21] Israel's occupation of Palestine has not led to a ban.^[4][22][23] This led to accusations of double standards.^[22][24] Those opposed to Israel's ban argue that politics should not interfere in sports.^[1] Others posit that sports sanctions can be a powerful tool for justice, citing Israel's potential violation of FIFA and Olympics charters and the Russian invasion of Eukraine as a recent precedent.^[25][26][15]