FIFA reportedly proposes Israel-Palestine match to open youth football festival

FIFA is reportedly considering a proposal for Israel and Palestine to play the opening match of its inaugural under-15 football festival in the United States later this year.

According to The Athletic, a sports news website owned by The New York Times, FIFA is proposing that the opening match of the new youth tournament should be between the Israeli and Palestinian under-15 teams. The plan remains uncertain and it is not yet clear whether either side will agree to take part.

The proposed fixture would mark a highly symbolic, and potentially contentious, move by FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who failed in April to secure a handshake between Palestinian Football Association (PFA) President Jibril Rajoub and Israel Football Association Vice President Basim Sheikh Suliman at FIFA’s annual congress in Vancouver.

The Athletic reported that Rajoub and Suliman had addressed delegates separately before Infantino invited them back on stage in an apparent attempt to bring them together. The effort failed, with Rajoub reportedly pleading: “We are suffering!”

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“We have a beautiful under-15 tournament coming up, where we will invite all 211 countries to participate, all the children of the world, let’s do it for that,” Infantino is reported saying on stage. “Let’s work together, you have my commitment, you have the support of the whole room.”

According to The Athletic, FIFA’s proposal would see the Israeli and Palestinian under-15 teams face each other as part of what it described as another attempt to “broker peace”. However, the move is likely to draw criticism from Palestinian officials and campaigners who have argued that FIFA has failed to hold Israel accountable over its killing and targeting of Palestinian footballers and sports facilities. 

The new tournament is expected to take place in the US in September and is open to all 211 FIFA member associations. The Athletic reported that Russia, which has been banned from FIFA competitions since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, is also eligible to take part in the festival.

That detail is likely to intensify criticism of FIFA’s handling of Israel. Palestinian football officials and rights campaigners have repeatedly accused world football’s governing bodies of applying double standards, pointing to Russia’s swift suspension while Israel has continued to participate in international football despite its genocide in Gaza and the ongoing occupation of Palestinian territory.

The festival was announced at a FIFA Council meeting in December. It will involve shorter matches and smaller pitches, with teams made up of between seven and nine players per side. This year’s edition, which could reportedly be hosted in Miami, will feature boys’ teams. A second edition in 2027 will feature girls’ teams.

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