Cantona urges FIFA, UEFA to suspend Israel from international football over Gaza war

Former football star Eric Cantona told a London audience at the Together 4 Palestine concert on Wednesday night that FIFA and UEFA should suspend Israel from international football, arguing that international sport is inseparable from politics and culture. He drew a comparison with Russia’s suspension after its invasion of Ukraine, saying, 'Four days after Russia started a war in Ukraine, FIFA and UEFA suspended Russia. We are now 716 days into what Amnesty International has called a genocide – and yet Israel continue to be allowed to participate.' Cantona urged that clubs, players and leagues refuse to play Israeli teams, adding that international football is more than sport; 'In a way that a country represents itself on a global stage, the time has come to suspend Israel from that privilege.'

Reaction to Cantona's remarks was mixed. Supporters cheered, but critics argued the former striker did not acknowledge the violence Israel faced on Oct. 7 or the broader context of the conflict. One critic wrote on X: 'One too many kicks to the head for Cantona. Does he not understand who started the war with Israel? Why would FIFA and EUFA suspend the ones attacked?'

The remarks come as a United Nations Commission of Inquiry concluded this week that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, a finding Israel has dismissed as biased. The controversy comes as Spain threatened not to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest unless Israel is excluded; the Netherlands, Ireland, and Slovenia had already taken the same stance. A British lawmaker in Birmingham urged UEFA to cancel Aston Villa's November 6 Europa League match against Maccabi Tel Aviv to 'ensure public safety and community harmony.' UEFA has offered no indication it will act.

The war in Gaza began in 2023 when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people, and abducting 251 others. Forty-eight hostages remain in Gaza, and the Palestinian death toll has surpassed 65,000, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

With sport and politics increasingly intertwined, Cantona's remarks underscored a broader debate about whether international sports bodies should penalize a member nation amid humanitarian crises and where the line lies between sport and global politics.