FIFA President Gianni Infantino during the FIFA Football Conference in Milan, Italy, Sept. 22, 2019. Photo: REUTERS/Flavio Lo Scalzo.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino on Thursday called on the governing body of soccer to promote peace and unity as it faces mounting pressure to suspend Israel from international competitions because of the country’s military actions against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.

The FIFA Council convened in Zurich on Thursday to discuss a series of topics, including soccer governance and competitions. The topic of Israel was not formally listed on the agenda for the meeting. However, in his opening remarks, Infantino spoke to the 37-member council about the role of soccer in encouraging peace and unity, “particularly in the context of the ongoing situation in Gaza,” according to a FIFA media release that did not mention Israel by name. He also stressed that FIFA could not solve political issues.

“At FIFA, we are committed to using the power of football to bring people together in a divided world. Our thoughts are with those who are suffering in the many conflicts that exist around the world today, and the most important message that football can convey right now is one of peace and unity,” said Infantino, who added that he has had repeated conversations with confederation presidents on the matter.

“FIFA cannot solve geopolitical problems, but it can and must promote football around the world by harnessing its unifying, educational, cultural, and humanitarian values,” the FIFA president noted.

Qualifying games for the 2026 World Cup resume next week. Israel’s men’s soccer team is scheduled to compete against Norway in a qualifier on Oct. 11 in Oslo and then Italy on Oct. 14 in Udine. Israel and Italy are currently tied in Group I on nine points each, only six points behind Norway. Israel is currently playing home games in Hungary.

Several soccer federations in Europe, including in Norway and Turkey, have urged UEFA to ban Israeli teams from international competitions because of Israel’s military campaign targeting Hamas terrorists in Gaza who orchestrated the deadly invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Jibril Rajoub, the head of the Palestinian Football Association who has repeatedly called for FIFA to suspend Israel from international matches, was also in Switzerland this week and met on Thursday with International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry, according to The Associated Press.

FIFA Vice President Victor Montagliani said on Wednesday that any decision regarding Israel’s suspension from international soccer should be made by European soccer’s governing body UEFA. “That issue is the jurisdiction of UEFA, first and foremost,” he told Sky News on the sidelines of the Leaders sports business conference in London.

“It’s their member and they have a process … so we need to respect that,” he added. “And so, I think it’s important that we respect that it’s UEFA’s decision. Obviously, UEFA and FIFA will be having whatever discussions they need to, no different than any other confederation would on any other member. And obviously it’s an issue that changes from a geopolitics standpoint almost on a daily basis, as we saw with the last proposal of a peace plan. And so, there’s a lot of moving parts.”

“No different than if I have to deal with a member in my region for whatever reason, it’s a decision by UEFA,” Montagliani – who is also the president of the CONCACAF region covering North and Central America and the Caribbean – additionally told reporters at the Leaders conference.

The former head of the former Canadian Soccer Association added that the Palestine Football Association’s request to ban Israel was still being considered by two FIFA committees.

Montagliani made the comments on the same day that UK-based human rights group Amnesty International wrote to FIFA and UEFA, calling on the organizations to suspend Israeli teams from their tournaments because of what it claimed is a “genocide” taking place in Gaza.

“As Israel’s national football team gears up for World Cup qualifiers against Norway and Italy, Israel continues to perpetrate genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip,” wrote Amnesty International Secretary General Agnes Callamard. He also accused Israel of engaging in a “deliberate campaign of wholesale devastation, forced displacement, and starvation of civilians.”

“At the same time, Israel is brutally expanding its illegal settlements and legitimizing illegal outposts in the West Bank as part of its unlawful occupation of Palestinian Territory,” Callamard claimed. “It is nothing short of a disgrace that the IFA [Israeli Football Association] is still allowing clubs from these settlements to keep playing in its leagues, after multiple warnings for more than a decade.”

The FIFA Council on Thursday also appointed Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan as joint hosts of the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2027 and confirmed London, England, as host for the final phase of the inaugural FIFA Women’s Champions Cup next year, which will be comprised of four matches to be played from Jan. 28- Feb. 1.