UEFA President Says It’s ‘Legitimate’ to Ask Why Israel Is Allowed to Participate in Int’l Soccer Competitions

UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin responded to a question about why Europe’s governing body of soccer allows Israel to participate in international soccer competitions while Russia is excluded, during an interview late last week on the Slovenian news program “Odmevi.”

“This is a legitimate question,” Čeferin stated. “In principle, I don’t support not allowing athletes to compete in competitions. In the case of Russia, the athletes have not competed for three and a half years, and the war is even worse than it was. I know that many are opponents of the regime, but they still can’t play. In principle, I am against not allowing athletes to participate in competitions. But here, sport is very intertwined with politics, and politics is very much involved here.”

When asked to elaborate on the UEFA’s permission to have Israel participate in competitions, Čeferin said, “For now, our decision is like this. It is very difficult for me to comment on what could happen. But in principle, I think that all athletes should have the opportunity to compete and that other things should be resolved differently.”

Čeferin also commented on Slovakia’s national women’s volleyball team refusing to shake hands with their Israeli opponents after a recent qualifying match for the European Championship. “In principle, I can say that I don’t like it when athletes do not shake hands with each other,” he noted. 

The UEFA was accused of promoting an antisemitic blood libel last week for inviting several refugee children to display a banner on the pitch at the Super Cup final in Udine, Italy, that said, “Stop killing children. Stop killing civilians.” The UEFA invited two children from the Gaza Strip to participate in the medal ceremony at the same match, between Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham.

However, the UEAF launched disciplinary proceedings against the Israeli team Maccabi Haifa after its fans displayed an anti-Polish banner at a UEFA Conference League qualifying match against Poland’s Raków Częstochowa.

The UEFA was also heavily criticized last week for stopping the family of Hamas hostage Rom Braslavski from displaying signs advocating for his release from captivity at Beitar Jerusalem’s match against Riga in a Conference League qualifier in Bucharest, Romania.