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FIFA fines Israeli FA for anti-discrimination rules breaches | The Express Tribune
Palestine Football Association reported allegations of discrimination by the IFA to FIFA
FIFA President Gianni Infantino speaks during the inauguration of the Colombian Football Federation’s hotel, where he expressed his support for Mexico ahead of the World Cup, in Barranquilla, Colombia, February 24, 2026. REUTERS/Jairo Cassiani
PARIS:
FIFA fined the Israeli Football Association (IFA) 150,000 Swiss francs ($190,700) on Thursday for “multiple breaches” of its anti-discrimination obligations.
A report by the disciplinary committee of world football’s governing body found the IFA “failed to take meaningful action” against the club Beitar Jerusalem for “persistent and well-documented racist behaviour”.
In October 2024, the Palestine Football Association reported allegations of discrimination by the IFA to FIFA, which began an investigation.
FIFA did not opt for the sanction requested by the Palestinian FA, which argued that the IFA should be suspended.
But the IFA was found to have failed to “abide by FIFA’s statutory objectives”, in a decision published by its disciplinary committee, which listed several racist incidents in Israeli football.
The disciplinary committee highlighted “deficient and substantively inadequate” sanctions against Beitar for racist and discriminatory behaviour.
Supporters of the club “have engaged in persistent and well-documented racist behaviour,” the report said.
“The club’s use of slogans such as ‘forever pure’, and the repeated chanting of ethnic slurs such as ‘terrorist’ directed at Arab players are not isolated incidents but rather form part of a systemic pattern of conduct that offends the basic rules of decent behaviour and brings the sport into disrepute.”
FIFA said the committee had stressed that Beitar Jerusalem were “only a small example of a general failure by the IFA.”
The IFA was issued with a warning and was ordered to display a banner at its next three FIFA competition home matches, stating “Football Unites the World — No to Discrimination”.
The IFA will also have to invest one-third of the fine towards implementing a plan to “ensure action against discrimination and to prevent repeated incidents”.
The report also said that the IFA’s failure to respond to “political and militaristic messaging” by the CEO of the Israeli professional league and by Maccabi Netanya “further compounds its breach”.
“The IFA has made no public statements condemning racism, has not launched any Anti Discrimination campaigns, and has not taken steps to foster inclusion of Arab or Palestinian players,” the report continued.
“It has not used its platform to promote peace or to counteract the politicisation of football by affiliated clubs and officials.”
The IFA responded to the punishment on Friday claiming it did tackle racism but “most of the measures were not publicised”.
“Well before the fine for racism, the Federation and the clubs were already working, and will work with a growing intensity against this repugnant scourge.”
After a separate investigation, FIFA said it could not rule on whether Israeli clubs based in the occupied West Bank could take part in the Israeli league.
FIFA’s governance, audit and compliance committee based its judgement on the fact that “the final legal status of the West Bank remains an unresolved and highly complex matter under public international law”.
The Palestinian Football Association (PFA) welcomed FIFA’s ruling, saying “it was a step in the right direction”.
However it added: “The PFA observes that the findings do not fully address the scope and gravity of the violations raised in its original proposal.”
In 2024, United Nations experts — mandated by the Human Rights Council but not speaking on behalf of the UN — 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”.
“The autonomy and self-regulation in sport must not be detrimental to fundamental human rights,” the experts said.
In addition to roughly three million Palestinians, more than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements and outposts in the West Bank, which are illegal under international law.
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Kansas City, KS – With the 2026 FIFA World Cup just three months away, cities across the United States are racing to finalize training facilities that national teams will call home during the global tournament.
Among them is Kansas City, which will serve as the base camp for defending champion Argentina national football team, a major win for the region as it prepares to welcome both players and tens of thousands of international fans.
Base camps are critical to World Cup operations. They serve as home headquarters where teams live, train and recover while traveling between match sites throughout the competition.
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World Cup 2026 signage is displayed in Kansas City, one of the tournament’s host cities. (Olivianna Calmes)
“From private practice fields to player recovery rooms, these facilities are designed to support some of the biggest names in soccer,” said Alan Dietrich, who has worked closely with organizers.
Local leaders have spent more than a year pitching their cities to international teams, hoping to showcase not just athletic facilities but the broader community.
“We started actually over a year ago with countries beginning to visit,” Dietrich said.
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Tourism officials say the opportunity extends far beyond the sport itself. Hosting a base camp allows cities to introduce themselves to global audiences and build long-term international relationships.
To show support for Kansas City’s bid for the men’s 2026 FIFA World Cup, the KC2026 Bid Committee and Outfront media installed a 90×90-foot banner on Main Street in Kansas City, Missouri. (Jill Toyoshiba/The Kansas City Star/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
“We knew that the World Cup was going to be kind of our first chance and probably our biggest chance to be engaging these international markets,” said Devin Aaron with Visit KC.
A locker room shows the “We are FIFA 2026 Kansas City” sign in Sporting KC training facility (Olivianna Calmes)
Early expectations had Argentina basing in Miami, but Kansas City ultimately stood out during the selection process.
“When Argentina visited, they really loved it here,” Dietrich said. “They loved our facilities, they loved our people.”
The team will train at Sporting Kansas City’s Compass Minerals National Performance Center, a state-of-the-art facility in Kansas City, Kansas that will serve as Argentina’s training home base during the tournament.
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The complex features multiple professional grade fields and elite level training amenities designed for international competition.
Inside, players will have access to private dining areas, meeting rooms and dedicated recovery spaces designed to help them rest between matches.
A resting room for World Cup players (Olivianna Calmes)
“If they’ve traveled a lot and they’re tired, they can come in here, turn the lights out and get a nice nap,” Dietrich added.
Up to 100,000 Argentine fans are expected to travel to Kansas City during the tournament, a preview of the global crowds set to flood World Cup host cities across the U.S.
Across the U.S., cities selected as host sites and base camps are preparing for similar surges, as teams finalize training locations and fans follow their national squads.
Cities across the US which are hosting World Cup games (Fox News)
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The 2026 World Cup will be the largest in history, expanding from 32 to 48 teams and spanning host cities across the United States, Canada and Mexico, with each location competing for global visibility and long-term economic impact.
Antoine Griezmann is set to sign a two-year deal including an additional one-year option with Orlando City SC, multiple sources told ESPN Sunday.
The Atlético Madrid attacker left for Orlando on Sunday night after his team’s 3-2 derby loss to Real Madrid to finalize the move, sources added, with Griezmann expected to begin playing for the MLS side in July.
Griezmann will remain with Atlético until the end of the season, which still includes a Champions League quarterfinal tie with Barcelona and a Copa del Rey final against Real Sociedad.
The former France star, who was on the 2018 World Cup winning team, retired from international duty in 2024.
ESPN reported in February that Griezmann was in talks to make a move to Orlando before the end of the LaLiga season, but sources said he decided to put the move on hold to finish out the year with Atlético.
Griezmann is Atlético’s all-time leading scorer with 210 goals, but he has yet to win a major title with Diego Simeone’s team.
Simeone has said repeatedly that he would support any decision that Griezmann, a longtime Atlético Madrid veteran, made. His current deal with Atleti runs through 2027.
Major League Soccer’s summer window opens on July 13.
ESPN’s Gustavo Hofman and Jeff Carlisle contributed to this report.
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame’s Ahmed Hesham won the men’s saber Sunday, and the Fighting Irish men joined the women in winning the inaugural three-weapon national championship at the Joyce Center.
Hesham defeated St. John’s Adham Moataz 15-12 in the final after a third-place finish last season.
Notre Dame finished with 91 points, 10 better than runner-up Columbia. St. John’s (63), Harvard (62) and Pennsylvania (58) rounded out the top five.
Notre Dame’s Chase Emmer fell short in defense of his foil title after losing 15-8 to Columbia’s Sam Kumbla in the final.
Fighting Irish freshman Kruz Schembri made it to the épée final before losing to North Carolina’s Youssef Shamel 15-7.
The Fighting Irish trio led all three disciplines after the first day.
Notre Dame won 14 co-ed championships, including six of the last eight. The Fighting Irish won last season’s title in the final year of the combined men’s and women’s team championship.
Notre Dame edged Columbia 102-99 on Friday to win the first women’s three-weapon title. Eszter Muhan won the épée for the Irish.
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