BDS Denounces Election of Israeli Football Chief to UEFA Executive Committee
On Thursday, April 3, UEFA announced that Zuares had secured 15 votes from fellow members, earning a two-year term over Ukrainian Football Association President Abal Rafael Louzan.
The Palestinian-led movement, which advocates for the cultural and economic boycott of Israel as a means of challenging its occupation of Palestinian land, took to social media to denounce UEFA, labeling it as an enabler of 'Ethnic Cleansing, Forced displacement, Apartheid and genocide.'
'Our hope has never been in the corrupt colonial powers governing world football, but in the growing number of fan clubs and teams raising 'Red Card Israel' banners in stadiums around the world,' said BDS.
The movement stated that sports fans globally are protesting Israel's actions by joining the cultural boycott under the banner 'Red Card Genocidal Apartheid Israel.' It urged supporters to 'peacefully disrupt' matches until major sports organizations, including FIFA and UEFA, uphold international law and their own regulations by banning Israel.
BDS argues that Israel's participation in international sports serves to legitimize its settler colonial policies and apartheid system, which have oppressed Palestinians since 1948. The movement has long criticized Western-dominated sports bodies for ignoring these issues and failing to take action against Israeli teams.
This is especially poignant given Israel's ongoing attacks, imprisonment, and killing of Palestinian athletes, as well as systemic racism within Israeli sports, including segregated football leagues and unchecked anti-Palestinian hate from fan clubs.
'Athletes are denied freedom of movement to attend their own matches, competitions, and training. Palestinian stadiums and sports facilities have been bombed and destroyed. Israel even prevents the import of sports equipment and the development of sports infrastructure,' BDS states on its official website.
In March, the Palestinian Football Association sent a letter to UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin, urging him to disqualify Zuares from the election and expressing 'profound disappointment' that he had passed UEFA's eligibility checks.
The PA noted that Zuares had visited an Israeli Air Force base amid the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) ongoing genocide on Gaza, where he reportedly expressed support for the hostile campaign stating, 'Together, we will win.'
In response, Israel sought to retaliate against Palestinian Football Association head Jibril Rajoub, accusing him of violating FIFA regulations by 'using sports to promote terrorism and violence.' Israel's claims stem from Rajoub's comments contextualizing the Hamas-led October 2023 attacks within the broader Palestinian struggle against occupation.
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