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Faced on growing global calls to suspend Israeli football teams, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said on Thursday that the governing body should contribute to peace and unity and cannot resolve political issues.
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In the feverish period for football policy, Infantino held a meeting of the ruling council of FIFA, in which Israel officially did not have a qualification game next week next week.
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The strongest impetus against Israeli teams of European football leaders during a two-year conflict in Gaza was suspended after a peaceful offer on Monday in the White House by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Binjamin Netanyahu.
Infantino emphasized his council of 37 members of “the importance of promoting peace and unity, especially in the context of the ongoing situation in gas,” the press release said, which did not apply directly to Israel.
“FIFA cannot solve geopolitical problems,” Infantino said in the statement, “but he can and should help football around the world, using his unifying, educational, cultural and humanitarian values.”
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FIFA did not plan a press conference, and Infantino was not provided for an interview.
The male team of Israel now should go to the qualifiers of the World Cup against Norway in Oslo on October 11 and Italy in the Udun three days later.
Norway was among European football federations calling for UEFA to call the vote of his executive committee before FIFA meeting in Zurich at the suspension of Israeli teams from international competitions. The football body of Turkey directly called on UEFA and FIFA to suspend Israel.
Any voting in the UEFA group of 20 people seemed to pass, people familiar with discussions, Associated Press said, despite the opposition from the members of Israel and Germany.
FIFA and Infantino, who built close ties with Trump on the eve of the joint year in the United States, next year with Canada and Mexico, could not follow any vote of UEFA. This prospect was even more distant last week, when the US State Department said that it would work to protect Israeli status in football.
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The peaceful proposal of Trump-Nenanyahu on Monday was also quickly welcomed by the governments in the Middle East, including Qatar, a key supporter of the Palestinian people, and who has close ties with UEFA and its President Alexander Cefurrin.
The FIFA meeting on Thursday was attended by Ceferrin and the head of the group of European football clubs Naser Al-Helafi, who is the president of Paris Saint-Germain, the owner of the Champions League title belonging to Qatar. Al-Helafi is also a member of the Katar government.
The head of the Palestinian Football Federation, Jibril Rajub, was also in Switzerland this week and met on Thursday with the president of the International Olympic Committee Kirei Koventri.
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