'I can't shake the hand of someone Israelis have brought to whitewash their fascism and genocide'

“He spent like 15 minutes trying to explain to everyone how the rules matter, how this could easily become a precedent where the rights of member associations are violated with impudence, and then we’ll just wrap this under the carpet. It was absurd.”

The Palestinian Football Association recently appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) over FIFA’s refusal to sanction Israel over football clubs based in the occupied West Bank.

The PFA maintains that clubs based in occupied West Bank settlements should not be allowed to compete in leagues controlled by Israeli football authorities.

In 2024, United Nations experts said at least eight football clubs had been identified as playing in “Israeli colonial settlements” and called on FIFA to “fulfil its responsibility to respect human rights”.

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Rajoub invokes erosion of Palestine’s sport

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Rajoub called on FIFA to “apply the statutes with fairness, with logic.”

“What’s going on in Palestine is terrible, destroying all the Palestinian sport facilities in Gaza, the killings of hundreds of Palestinian athletes, employees… I think it’s now the time to make justice,” Rajoub said.

“The guy who spoke on behalf of Israel, he did not even pay attention to the suffering, to what’s going on.

“I refused to shake hands. How can I shake hands or have a photo with such a man?”