A push to expel Israel from international football has opened a new schism in Australia, which plans to abstain from the vote despite the urging of former Socceroo Craig Foster.
The war in Gaza will officially become a political football on Friday when FIFA, the governing body of the world game, votes on whether to support a Palestinian campaign backed by powerful gulf nations to expel Israel from international matches.
However, this local turf war has been supercharged by Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, which PFA president, Lieutenant-General Jibril Rajoub, describes as “an existential threat tantamount to genocide”. Foster’s intervention drew a sharp rebuke from the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, which pointed out that the ICJ had made no such finding and that Football Australia should not involve itself in a protracted and complex international conflict.
Australia Palestine Advocacy Network president Nasser Mashni urged Football Australia to support Israel’s expulsion. He said that 91 Palestinian footballers, referees, coaches and administrators have so far been killed in the seven-month war.
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