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Israeli newspapers and cross-media reports reported that Israel temporarily escaped expulsion from the European Football Association (UEFA), after intense diplomatic pressure was exerted by American and Israeli officials on the federation’s leaders, in light of increasing calls to exclude Israel from European competitions due to the war on Gaza.

Israeli media and several reports have confirmed that Israel has temporarily escaped expulsion from the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) following intense diplomatic pressure from US and Israeli officials. The push comes amid growing calls to ban Israel from European football competitions due to its ongoing military campaign in Gaza.

UEFA had been expected to discuss the possible exclusion of Israel under pressure from Qatar. However, that move was postponed after strong diplomatic intervention.

According to political analyst Trita Parsi, who posted on X, the United States — although not a UEFA member — played a direct role in lobbying European officials to prevent the suspension from being added to UEFA’s official agenda.

As a result, Israeli clubs will continue to participate in continental tournaments, as Maccabi Tel Aviv is scheduled to play its Europa League match against the Greek team PAOK Thessaloniki as scheduled.

Reports said that a series of behind-the-scenes talks involving diplomats, football officials, and influential sports figures in Europe helped reach this temporary compromise.

Meanwhile, a group of advisers at the UN Human Rights Council has called for Israel to be excluded from both UEFA and FIFA. However, the council does not hold any formal authority over international football bodies.

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This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.