IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Complaint accusing the Presidents of FIFA and UEFA of aiding in war crimes and crimes  against humanity in the occupied Palestinian territory to be filed at the International  Criminal Court 

FIFA President Infantino and UEFA President Čeferin have been accused of aiding and abetting  war crimes (specifically, the transfer of civilian population into occupied territories) and crimes  against humanity (specifically, apartheid) under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal  Court (ICC). The Communication is expected to be formally filed with the ICC Office of  Prosecutor by 23 December 2025. 

The complaint centres on FIFA and UEFA’s inclusion of Israeli football clubs based in illegal  settlements on occupied Palestinian territory that were built on land stolen from Palestinian  people. FIFA and UEFA permit these clubs to play in leagues organised by the Israel Football  Association and host matches on the seized land. They also provide financial and structural  support to settlement clubs, some of which have played in the UEFA-organised competitions. 

In addition to being in breach of FIFA and UEFA Statutes, this practice normalises life in the  settlements and legitimises Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine, contributing to the transfer  of civilian population into occupied territories contrary to the Rome Statute art 8(2)(b)(viii). The  practice also aids and abets apartheid (a crime against humanity pursuant to Rome Statute art  7(1)(j)) – Palestinians are not allowed to enter the matches as spectators, play for, or become  managers of,the illegal settlement clubs. UEFA and FIFA’s policies under the political leadership  of their Presidents assist with the conduct of these criminal activities. 

The Presidents of FIFA and UEFA have acted in full knowledge that these practices constitute the  commission of human rights violations, apartheid, and war crimes, and have ignored multiple  reports and letters addressed to them by UN human rights experts, Human Rights Watch,  Amnesty International and Members of the European Parliament, among many others. Instead  of applying FIFA Statutes and expelling the settlement clubs, Mr Infantino has led FIFA in  suppressing all efforts of Palestine Football Association to regain legal and political jurisdiction  over their territory. He also ignored the warning of FIFA’s Israel-Palestine Committee that  maintaining the status quo lacked international legitimacy and disregarded its recommendation to  expel settlement clubs or sanction the Israel Football Association. 

Evidence also demonstrates that the Presidents of UEFA and FIFA cooperated with the highest  levels of the Israeli and US governments to facilitate the continued participation of Israel FA and  settlement clubs, and to shield them from accountability.  

Under the political leadership of Mr Čeferin, UEFA has effectively extended its own territory and  administrative jurisdiction into the occupied Palestine – i.e., into areas falling under the  jurisdiction of Palestine Football Association and thus the Asian Football Confederation.  

Lawyers behind the complaint consider that “this is an excellent opportunity for the ICC to set a  much-needed precedent. FIFA and UEFA are powerful private regulatory monopolies with  revenues that exceed the GDP of many countries in the world. These global corporations are  operating with impunity and there are no effective accountability mechanisms for them or their  leaders.”

The Submitting Parties include a group of Palestinian footballers, Palestinian clubs, owners of  the land, and advocacy groups (Irish Sport for Palestine, Scottish Sport for Palestine, and Just  Peace Advocates). 

END

Media enquiries:

Irish Sport for Palestine: Rebecca O’Keeffe, irishsportforpalestine@gmail.com

Notes to Editors: Context & key legal references

The issue concerns Israeli illegal settlement clubs located on Palestinian territory of the West Bank that belongs to Palestine FA. Israel FA is using the occupied territory as its own, and integrates settlement clubs into its leagues and structures, and provides financial support for them. Article 64(2) of FIFA Statutes prohibits Member associations and their clubs to play on the territory of another member association without the latter’s approval, while Article 65 stipulates that “[a]ssociations, leagues or clubs that are affiliated to a member association may only join another member association or take part in competitions on that member association’s territory under exceptional circumstances. In each case, authorisation must be given by both member associations, the respective confederation(s) and by FIFA.” IFA never received any of these authorisations and PFA specifically objected to its territory being used by IFA. UEFA Statutes contain equivalent provisions. 

For the past 15 years, the Palestine FA has been making efforts using FIFA official mechanisms to regain its legal and political jurisdiction over its territory and has repeatedly asked FIFA to apply the territorial integrity provisions in its Statutes on Israel FA and the settlement clubs. FIFA ignored all of them.

The settlement clubs are built on land stolen from Palestinian families, operate exclusively for Jewish settlers, and prohibit the entry of Palestinians – a glaring sign of apartheid regime in football, with FIFA and UEFA’s assistance. Assisting apartheid is a crime against humanity under the Rome Statute of the ICC.   

Integration into Israeli, global and continental footballing structures of the Israeli settlement clubs by FIFA and UEFA legitimises their activities and normalise life in the illegal settlements. This represents an important incentive for the civilian population to move to the occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank – a war crime under Rome Statute of the ICC. Due to the permissive policies, the size and number of settlement clubs has grown over the years – they reported that the major motivation for them to keep growing is their inclusion into Israeli leagues and the possibility to reach higher leagues.    

UN Security Council Resolution 2334 (2016) considered illegal settlements in the West Bank as “a flagrant violation under international law and a major obstacle to the vision of two States living side-by-side in peace and security, within internationally recognized borders”. Many other binding and non-binding UN resolutions and international instruments included similar provisions.

On 19 July 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) found that Israel’s occupation and settlement of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is illegal and amounts to annexation. Therefore the ICJ imposed an obligation on Israel to immediately cease all settlement activities, and to evacuate all settlers from the Occupied Palestinian Territory. It explicitly excluded the possibility to rely on any bilateral agreement such as Oslo to bypass these mandatory provisions of international law – something FIFA had done in 2017 to provide an excuse for its inaction.  The Court held that states and international organisations have an obligation not to recognise the occupation as legal and not to render aid or assistance in maintaining it. 

The UN General Assembly Resolution of September 2024 echoed the ICJ opinion of 19 July 2024 according to which all illegal settlements must be urgently dismantled and settlers evacuated. In particular, it specified that both states and international organisations must not “recognize as legal the situation arising from the unlawful presence of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory”.

In Oct 2024, FIFA received a letter from the top UN human rights experts, including UN Special Rapporteur for Cultural Rights, expressing “grave concerns that FIFA may continue to allow clubs located in or playing in settlements” to participate in Israeli leagues and warned that such approach is “in direct opposition with international law”. Human Rights Watch and FairSquare also wrote to FIFA urging it to stop delaying the decision and immediately bar the Israel Football Association from organizing football activities in illegal Israeli settlements; to fulfil its statutory obligations; and to comply with international law. In 2016, Human Rights Watch called on FIFA to ban illegal settlement clubs and said that by allowing their inclusion FIFA is “sponsoring games on a seized land” in violation of human rights of Palestinian people. FIFA ignored all of the letters. UEFA received similar letters and in either case, the content of those letters apply to UEFA by analogy as it holds the same power to expel the settlement clubs as FIFA.

Private organisations cannot be defendants before the ICC, but their leaders who are responsible for their policies can. 

More than 400 Palestinian footballers in Gaza and the West Bank have been killed, including over 100 children from the Palestinian football academies. All facilities in Gaza and 11 in the West Bank have been destroyed or damaged. Al Yarmouk football stadium has been turned in a makeshift detention centre where young boys of about 10-12 years of age and elderly Palestinians were stripped, blindfolded and held at gunpoint by the IDF, while Israeli bulldozers dug up the pitch for no other reason but to make it unusable.  

Filing parties will submit a 50 page letter and evidence to the Office of Prosecutor of the ICC prior to the 23 December. 

Disclaimer: Organisations, individuals, or social media accounts that are not mentioned in this press  release or official social media account are not associated with the legal action before the ICC.