Will FIFA's scandal eclipse Palestinian bid to boot Israel from world soccer?
For Israel to be suspended, three quarters of delegates would need to approve the motion. If that were a long shot before, it’s even more unlikely now.
By JTAFIFA President Sepp Blatter(photo credit: REUTERS)
Israelis were expecting some big news to come out of the annual FIFA Congress this week.But they probably weren’t expecting this.In a bombshell operation, a Swiss law enforcement team showed up at the Zurich hotel hosting the annual gathering of the international soccer organization — and arrested nine senior officials.The arrests come after decades of corruption allegations aimed at FIFA. The arrested officials face charges of taking money in exchange for World Cup hosting bids, as well taking bribes in exchange for media and marketing rights for major international tournaments.The allegations are damning, but frankly, they couldn’t have come at a better time for Israel. Until Wednesday, much of the coverage of the FIFA Congress surrounded whether delegates would vote to suspend Israel from world soccer. The Palestinian Football Association is introducing the motion to suspend Israel, accusing it of unjustly restricting Palestinian soccer players’ freedom of movement and claiming that Israel’s West Bank settlement teams violate FIFA rules. Israeli officials have called the effort blatantly political and said that the Palestinians’ complaints all concern Israel’s security forces — not Israel’s soccer teams.For Israel to be suspended, three quarters of delegates would need to approve the motion. If that were a long shot before, it’s even more unlikely now.Suspending the Jewish state from international play would have rocked world soccer’s boat, inviting allegations of anti-Semitism and double standards. Israel, to say the least, likely would not have gone quietly into the night.Now, with FIFA’s boat already rocking, member states will probably be loath to pile one controversy on another. FIFA President Sepp Blatter, already opposed to Israel’s suspension (he met last week with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas) is probably looking to avoid two crises on his hands at once.Israeli politicians have already begun taking shots at FIFA. Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid recently came out against the international soccer organization's prioritizing of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after listing a litany of human rights violations carried out by other states."Syria - a quarter of a million killed, four million refugees, poison gas used against a civilian population," Lapid started.
"Iran - brutal repression of the Sunni minority, funding of terrorism throughout the world, the extermination of homosexuals.""But FIFA is will engage in negotiations to possibly boycott Israeli specifically? " Lapid asked rhetorically."The only state to warn her enemy before she drops bombs," he mused."Whose minorities sit in her parliament and enjoy equality," he went on."This is not just hypocrisy, this is outrage."Israel can even take comfort in historical precedent. When Netanyahu went to the White House in January 1998 to meet with President Clinton, he reportedly expected a tense meeting about the peace process. But the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke that day, leaving the president preoccupied.With world soccer preoccupied and the eyes of the world elsewhere, this could be FIFA and Israel’s Monica moment.