KEIR RADNEDGE REPORTS: European football federation UEFA, under increasing pressure from political and sporting spheres, may decide shortly on how to deal with demands that it should suspend or expel Israel from all European competitions.

Media outlets including The Times of Israel and Israel Hayom have attributed to Qatar diplomatic pressure to have the matter put on the executive committee’s agenda this week at short notice. The Qatar government was furious at the bombing by Israel of a complex in Doha housing officials the Hamas.

The Israel Football Association has been mobilising intensely across both diplomatic and sporting channels to prevent either the vote taking place or to block it being added to the agenda.

However, it is highly unlikely that UEFA would act unilaterally on such a proposal when world governing body FIFA has spent most of the last two decades putting off making a decision about Israeli teams’ participation in international competition.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has worked hard to ingratiate himself with President Donald Trump ahead of next year’s World Cup in central and north America and would be expected to delay any further debate – anywhere in the world game – until after the finals.

Israeli sources are on high alert not only because of the issue becoming high profile in football but that would carry a knock-on effect into other sports and their international competitions.

It is unclear what standard or criteria UEFA could use to justify any suspension/expulsion. Comparisons with Russia’s suspension. sparked by its brazen invasion of Ukraine, have been rejected by UEFA which has insisted publicly that the situations are different.

Shlomi Barzel, head of communication for IFA, is reported as sayn that Israel’s suspension would be “almost a deathblow to Israeli soccer.”

He added: “My estimation is that we will finish the current national teams event, but one more troublesome incident in Gaza, and everything can end in an instant.”

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