The West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) urges suspension of the Israeli regime from all football-related activities as long as Tel Aviv sustains its ongoing genocidal war against the Gaza Strip.
WAFF President Prince Ali bin Hussein made the plea in an open letter addressed to the international governing body of association football, football confederations, and member associations on Thursday.
“Join us in taking a decisive stand against the atrocities committed in Palestine and the war crimes in Gaza,” bin Hussein wrote.
He demanded that all of the letter’s addressees “condemn the killing of innocent civilians, including players, coaches, referees, and officials, [as well as] the destruction of the football infrastructure.”
The addressees were also urged to “take a united front in isolating the Israeli Football Association from all football-related activities until these acts of aggression cease.”
Israel began its brutal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas carried out Operation al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.
So far, the Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 26,900 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 65,949 others.
The fatalities include as many as 81 football players, officials, and referees.
Throughout the brutal military onslaught, the Israeli regime has also destroyed a whopping 16 football facilities across the coastal territory, including the Beit Hanoun Stadium, Palestine Stadium in Gaza, al-Yarmouk Stadium, and the pitch jointly run by FIFA and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
Since the onset of the war, the regime has also ramped up its aggression across the occupied West Bank, where it has afflicted damage on four football facilities, namely the Jenin Club, the Jenin Camp Club, Nurshams Camp Club, and Qalqiliya Club.
