Israel’s military is gearing up to invade Rafah where more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are sheltering.
Despite the ongoing genocide, Israel’s sports teams continue to compete internationally.
Russia was threatened with bans from international sports immediately after invading Ukraine, and eventually banned from the 2024 Olympics.
Israel's football team is set to compete in major European matches in weeks and with the Olympics coming up in July, now is the time for sporting federations to join international committees and add the needed pressure to stop Israel’s violence.
Call on the Olympics, all major football federations, and other sports to ban Israel until it stops the genocide of Palestinians.
The Olympics spirit is meant "to build a peaceful and better world..."
Yet, the Olympics, and all other sporting federations, continues to allow a country which has undermined this principle – Israel has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza since October, including 1,000 athletes. This includes Abu al-Abed, Palestine’s Olympic Football coach.
This is why over 300 sports teams in Palestine have joined in this call. Let's stand with them and show overwhelming global support to ban Israel from these games.
Call on the International Olympic Committee, FIFA, and UEFA to ban Israel from competition now.
After Israel's 9-day siege on Gaza in 2021, 140,000 Ekō members like you called one of the world’s biggest sports brands, PUMA, to drop its sponsorship of the Israel Football Association. We met with PUMA’s CEO to deliver our message. And thanks to our collective pressure, and the tireless work of Palestinian solidarity activists over the years, PUMA quietly ended its relationship with Israel’s Football Federation last year, months after Israel’s current invasion.
So we know we can use sports to push for change in Israel, but only if we speak out now.
More information
Palestine Chronicles. 7 January 2024.
CNN. 7 March 2022.
Human Rights Watch. 26 February 2024.
The Guardian. 27 February 2024.