The British newspaper "The Times" revealed that the UEFA is set to finalize its decision next week regarding the suspension of Israel's participation in European tournaments, with broad support from the majority of its executive committee for the ban.

This comes after a UN expert committee called on both FIFA and UEFA to suspend Israel, following a report from the UN investigation committee that concluded Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

The newspaper clarified that intensive discussions took place this week within UEFA regarding the violations in Gaza and how to respond, noting that a similar decision was made against Russia in 2022 following its invasion of Ukraine. It also added that several European clubs had previously requested the federation to find a way to avoid facing Israeli teams.

FIFA faces a potential dilemma if UEFA makes an official decision to suspend Israel, given the close relations between its president Gianni Infantino and the White House, especially with the 2026 World Cup approaching in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

It is worth mentioning that the Israeli national team is currently in third place in its World Cup qualifying group behind Norway and Italy, but the match scheduled between them and Norway in Oslo on October 11 is threatened with cancellation, after the Norwegian federation announced that its revenues would be allocated to support humanitarian aid in Gaza.

A statement from the UN Human Rights Office confirmed that suspending Israel is a necessary step to halt the normalization of serious human rights violations, emphasizing that sanctions should be directed at the state and not individual players.