At 6:45 pm Paris time on Wednesday, September 24, Greece’s PAOK Salonika hosted Maccabi Tel Aviv for the opening round of the single group stage in the Europa League. While the Israeli club is the only representative from that country competing in European football competitions this season, other teams from the country – whether clubs in other sports or national squads – are also set to take part in continental tournaments, including the qualifying campaign for the 2026 World Cup.
Their participation, however, has drawn criticism due to the Israeli military’s response to the October 7, 2023, terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas. More than 64,000 people have died in Gaza, according to the local health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by international organizations. Protests have grown increasingly urgent as the situation in the enclave deteriorates; on Tuesday, September 16, a commission of inquiry mandated by the United Nations Human Rights Council deemed that the Israeli government was in the process of committing genocide against Palestinians.
In light of this ongoing catastrophe, independent UN experts called on Tuesday, September 23, for the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA, International Federation of Association Football) and the Union des Associations Européennes de Football (UEFA, Union of European Football Associations) to suspend Israel. “Sporting bodies must not turn a blind eye to grave human rights violations,” they wrote in a statement, adding, “the boycott must be addressed to the State of Israel and not to individual players.”
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