Middle Eastern football associations have called on UEFA and FIFA to ban Israeli clubs and national teams from all international competitions. The initiators of the protest, according to media reports, include Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The initiative was led by the President of the West Asian Football Federation, Ali bin al-Hussein. In response, the general director of the Israeli Football Association, Niv Goldstein, called mixing politics with sports unacceptable. UEFA Secretary General Theodore Theodoridis urged not to compare this situation and history with the imposition of sanctions on Russia.