Iran’s demand also calls for “immediate and serious measures” by FIFA and football organizations “to prevent the continuation” of Israel’s “crimes and to provide food, drinking water, medicine and supplies medical treatment to innocent people and civilians.
The war in the Gaza Strip was triggered by an unprecedented attack carried out on October 7 by Palestinian Hamas against Israel, which left more than 1,160 dead, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on data Israeli officials.
Tense relations between Israel and Iran
In retaliation, Israel launched a vast offensive which left at least 27,940 dead in Gaza, the vast majority civilians, according to the Ministry of Health of the Islamist movement, which took power in 2007 in the Palestinian territory.
Iran hailed the “success” of the October 7 attack while denying its involvement. The Islamic Republic does not recognize Israel, its sworn enemy, and prohibits all contact between Iranian and Israeli athletes. Last August, an Iranian weightlifter was suspended by his country’s authorities after shaking hands with an Israeli athlete during a competition in Poland.
A demand “to world football leaders to ban Israel”
In 2021, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged athletes “not to shake hands with a representative of the (Israeli) criminal regime to obtain a medal”. For years, Iranian athletes have managed to avoid meeting Israelis in competition by getting disqualified or providing medical certificates testifying to unfitness.
A group of 12 Middle Eastern football associations, including Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, also “asked world football leaders to ban Israel because of the war against Hamas in Gaza,” Sky News reported on Thursday.