UEFA is weighing whether to suspend Israel from European football.
WBII’s position is simple: football is not a foreign-policy tool, and players are not proxies. A selective ban would punish athletes for politics they do not control, politicise competitions, and set a precedent that mobs and hashtags can decide fixtures. Keep football apolitical, consistent, and safe.
What this campaign is about
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Integrity over intimidation: Fixtures must be governed by rules and security standards, not by street pressure or theatrics.
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One standard for everyone: If football’s guardians care about human rights, apply clear, universal baselines to all associations and owners—don’t create a special standard for the Jewish state.
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Players aren’t pawns: Collective punishment of national teams does nothing to protect civilians, free hostages, or advance peace; it only brands one people as uniquely sanctionable.
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Due process, not votes under pressure: Exclusions—if ever justified—belong in independent procedures grounded in evidence, not in hurried committee politics.
What we’re asking for
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UEFA to keep Israel in competition and adopt a universal human-rights baseline for all members (anti-incitement, anti-violence, player protection, venue safety, due-process guarantees).
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National FAs to state publicly that they will play their fixtures and uphold safety obligations rather than seek exemptions.
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Sponsors & broadcasters to back football’s neutrality and press for consistent standards across the board.
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Clubs & venues to implement a robust security and stewarding checklist so games are safe without cancellations.
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Supporters & partners to urge their FAs to keep politics off the pitch and #KeepFootballFair.
Join Our Letter Campaign:
Hello,
I am asking you to oppose any blanket suspension of Israel from European football.
Football is not a foreign-policy plaything and footballers are not stand-ins for governments. A selective ban would politicise the sport, punish athletes for decisions they do not make, and advertise the principle that whoever shouts loudest sets the fixtures. If we care about civilians and human rights, we prove it by one standard for all, not a bespoke rule crafted for one team alone.
What must hold:
- Keep Israel in competition. Neutrality in sport is not optional; it is the point.
- One universal baseline for everyone—anti-incitement, anti-violence, player protection, venue safety, due process—applied to all associations and owners.
- Security first, not cancellations. Police and steward matches properly; do not reward intimidation with exclusions.
- Due process, not politics. Serious allegations—whoever they concern—belong in an independent, evidence-based procedure with rights of reply, not a hurried committee vote.
On precedent:
If UEFA now decides that vaguely defined “violations” justify expelling a national side, it will not stop at Israel. Many federations would fail that elastic test: states entangled in wars, domestic repression, corruption, organised crowd violence, or worse. Start swinging that cudgel selectively and the calendar empties while credibility collapses. To single out the Jewish state while others play on is not principle; it is arbitrariness dressed as virtue.
Worse, the moral geometry here is crooked. Israel is fighting a defensive war against terrorist organisations that target civilians and still hold hostages. Conflating a democracy’s right of self-defence with the actions of groups committed to civilian slaughter—and then punishing its footballers—would be a category error of the first order and a precedent every propagandist will exploit.
What this stance protects:
- Players—by rejecting collective punishment and nationality tests.
- Fans and staff—by insisting on serious safety operations so matches proceed.
- The game itself—by keeping football from becoming a billboard for whichever cause can muster the angriest mob this week.
A selective ban saves no lives, frees no hostages, and ends no war. It merely brands one people as uniquely sanctionable and turns sport into theatre for activists.
Please vote against any motion to suspend Israel, affirm football’s neutrality, and insist on a universal standard applied evenly to every federation.
Yours sincerely,
