FIFA and UEFA presidents accused of 'aiding war crimes' by International Criminal Court

Martin Macdonald

• 20 Feb 2026 08:01 CST
• 3 min read

Nieuws

FIFA president Gianni Infantino and UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin have been accused of "aiding war crimes" and “crimes against humanity” in a complaint filed at the International Criminal Court over Israel's continued participation in national competitions.

Irish Sport for Palestine, Scottish Sport for Palestine, Just Peace Advocates, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, Sport Scholars for Justice in Palestine and various Palestinian football figures have filed a 120-page document to the ICC focusing on FIFA and UEFA’s “inclusion of Israeli football clubs based in illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian territory that were built on land stolen from Palestinian people."

At the moment, Israel are eligible for participation in UEFA's European Championships qualification matches, UEFA's Nations League and FIFA's World Cup qualifying matches, as well as international friendlies.

In February of 2022, both UEFA and FIFA suspended Russia from all competitions following the invasion of Ukraine.

Israel is currently in conflict with Palestine and has been accused of illegally occupying territory. Israel rejects these claims.

The joint statement says, “FIFA and UEFA permit these clubs to play in leagues organised by the Israel Football Association and host matches on the seized land.

“They also provide financial and structural support to settlement clubs, some of which have played in the UEFA-organised competitions.”

The ICC investigates and tries individuals charged with crimes against humanity, including war crimes, genocide, and the crime of aggression. Organisations, such as UEFA and FIFA in this case, cannot be tried as a whole.

In October of 2025, Amnesty International wrote a letter to FIFA and UEFA calling on them to “suspend the Israeli Football Association until clubs from settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory are removed from its leagues”.

UEFA had considered suspending Israel from its competitions and a decision was going to be voted upon, only for that vote to be suspended after the ceasefire made in September - which has since been broken.

It now seems likely that, not only will Israel remain, but Russia could be reinstated, too. In an interview with Sky News, Infantino said it was "a defeat" to ban Israel and that FIFA “should actually never ban any country from playing football because of the acts of their political leaders”.

The advocacy group that made the complaint to the ICC say that FIFA and UEFA “normalise life in the settlements and legitimises Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine.

“The practice also aids and abets apartheid (a crime against humanity pursuant to Rome Statute art7(1)(j)) — Palestinians are not allowed to enter the matches as spectators, play for, or become managers of, the illegal settlement clubs.

“Settlements are a part of the Israeli government’s colonial project and UEFA and FIFA’s policies under the political leadership of their Presidents assist with the conduct of these criminal activities”.