LONDON: Major football federations are being pressured to boycott matches against Israel as part of a new global campaign launched by high-profile organizations and figures from the world’s most popular sport.
The #GameOverIsrael campaign was launched on Tuesday by a major coalition of human rights groups, fan associations, former players and influencers across nine major footballing countries: Belgium, England, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Scotland and Spain.
As part of the campaign, organizers are calling on the football federations of their countries to boycott Israel’s national team and club teams, and prevent Israeli footballers from playing in their domestic leagues.
A press release issued by the campaign said it aims to “take a principled stand against Israel’s ongoing assault on Palestinian life and infrastructure, including sports facilities and athletes in Gaza.”
Through the power of football fans, “ordinary people across the world can join the chorus and demand accountability by joining a local protest and applying pressure on the football federations, who run the game they love and support, to take immediate action,” it added.
Israel has long used sports and culture to whitewash its violations of international law and human rights, said Richard Falk, former UN special rapporteur on the Occupied Territories.
He added: “Sporting governing bodies have been shamefully complicit during this genocide. It’s perfectly legitimate and morally imperative to demand that football federations across Europe and the world boycott Israel. Normalcy is complicity in this abnormal time of prolonged genocide.”
The campaign follows a series of measures by European countries to pressure Israel to end the Gaza war.
In August, the Italian Football Coaches’ Association called on the country’s football federation to demand Israel’s suspension from competitions.
Spain launched nine measures aimed at encouraging an end to the Gaza war, including an arms embargo.
The #GameOverIsrael campaign called on the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the country’s body for the sport, to pursue a total boycott of ties to Israel.
Meanwhile, Norway’s federation pledged to donate ticket revenue from its FIFA 2026 World Cup qualifier match against Israel on Oct. 11 to humanitarian aid in Gaza.
Former UN human rights official Craig Mokhiber said: “We are living through a dark moment in history in which a people, locked in the chains of apartheid, are being exterminated before our eyes. None of us will be able to say we did not know. Inaction in such circumstances is complicity.”
He added: “But we do have the power to act. Sport is a powerful social force. And football, ‘the beautiful game,’ can be a powerful channel for action.
“Demand that your football federation, and all federations, boycott Israel. Keep football beautiful.”
The #GameOverIsrael campaign is being advised by British-Palestinian plastic surgeon Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah and organizations including the Gaza Tribunal, the Hind Rajab Foundation and Tech for Palestine.
Prominent supporters of the campaign include former footballer and BBC commentator Gary Lineker; former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis; Irish actor Liam Cunningham; British journalist and author Matt Kennard; Irish performer and activist Tadhg Hickey; British surgeon Nick Maynard; and Bobby Vylan of punk rap duo Bob Vylan.
Love Rovers Hate Racism, a fan group of the Irish club Shamrock Rovers FC, said: “We are approaching the two-year mark of the genocide in Gaza. What more is there to say? Why haven’t football federations boycotted Israel?
“They’re supposed to represent football and the fans. It is unfathomable, unconscionable. They should be ashamed. We demand they act now and boycott Israel and get them off our pitches.”
