FILE - The players line up before the UEFA Super Cup soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham Hotspur in Udine, Italy, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos, File)
Turkish soccer leader urges FIFA, UEFA to suspend Israel
ISTANBUL (AP) 鈥 Turkey on Friday became the first UEFA member to publicly call for Israel to be suspended from soccer, calling the situation in Gaza 鈥渋nhumane and unacceptable.鈥
FILE - The players line up before the UEFA Super Cup soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham Hotspur in Udine, Italy, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos, File)
ISTANBUL (AP) 鈥 Turkey on Friday became the first UEFA member to publicly call for Israel to be suspended from soccer, calling the situation in Gaza 鈥渋nhumane and unacceptable.鈥
Turkish Football Federation president Ibrahim Haciosmanoglu鈥檚 letter to international soccer leaders came as European body to suspend Israel, whose men鈥檚 team is in the middle of qualifying for next year鈥檚 World Cup.
鈥淚t is now time for FIFA and UEFA to act,鈥 Haciosmanoglu wrote in the letter news agency.
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鈥淒espite positioning themselves as defenders of civic values and peace, the sporting world and football institutions have remained silent for far too long,鈥 the Turkish official said.
Haciosmanoglu is not on the 20-member UEFA ruling committee, which is expected to have a majority to exclude Israel if a vote is called. The committee includes Israel soccer leader Moshe Zuares, who was elected in April.
The head of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, is closely aligned with 2026 World Cup co-host the United States and President Donald Trump so is seen as unlikely to back a move to suspend Israel.
The U.S. State Department said on Thursday it will work to stop any efforts aiming to ban Israel鈥檚 team from the World Cup.
Infantino chairs a meeting of FIFA鈥檚 ruling council next Thursday in Zurich.
Norway hosts Israel in a World Cup qualifier in Oslo on Oct. 11 and Italy is due to play Israel in Udine three days later. The Norwegian soccer federation has promised to give its to Doctors Without Borders for humanitarian work in Gaza.
FIFA didn’t immediately return requests seeking comment on Friday.
Pressure on international sports to act against Israel has grown this month after days of chaos at the Spanish Vuelta cycle race 鈥 which led Prime Minister on Israel 鈥 a Sept. 9 airstrike by in Qatar鈥檚 capital Doha, and a United Nations Human Rights Council-appointed inquiry accusing Israel of .
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Haciosmanoglu said the situation in Gaza was now more urgent and 鈥渇ootball has always been far more than a sport.鈥
鈥淚t is a universal language that brings together different cultures, fosters friendship, and strengthens the bonds of solidarity among peoples,鈥 he wrote. 鈥淕uided by these values, we feel compelled to raise our deep concern regarding the unlawful (and more importantly, completely inhumane and unacceptable) situation being carried out by the State of Israel in Gaza and its surrounding areas.鈥
Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in July for its actions in Syria and a destabilizing force in the region.
Israel has qualified for only one men鈥檚 World Cup, in 1970, when it advanced by playing against Australia and New Zealand in a section involving teams in Asia not from the Middle East. Israel was exiled from Asian soccer a few years later and has been a full member of UEFA since 1994.
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