FIFA banned Russia in four days. Israel has killed 567 Palestinian footballers, and FIFA still won't act.

On 29 June, Israel shot dead Gaza goalkeeper Saleem al-Ashqar. He is one of 567 footballers, and 1,009 people from Palestinian sport, the Palestinian FA says Israel has killed since October 2023. Six Israeli clubs play on occupied land against FIFA's own Article 64.2. FIFA banned Russia in four days; it has ignored Palestine since 2015. File a human rights report with FIFA, in one action.

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About this campaign

On 29 June 2026, Israeli forces shot dead Saleem al-Ashqar, the 32 year old goalkeeper for Khadamat Khan Younis, in al-Qarara, according to the Palestinian Football Association. He had married five months earlier and was expecting his first child. That week, the World Cup Round of 32 played on.

He is one of 1,009 people from Palestinian sport the Palestinian Football Association says Israel has killed since October 2023, 567 of them from football: players, coaches, referees and board members, many of them children. This is happening within a genocide that the United Nations Commission of Inquiry has found Israel to be committing in Gaza.

FIFA's own rules are not being applied. Article 64.2 of the FIFA Statutes says no member association may play on the territory of another without its approval. At least six Israeli league clubs are based in settlements on occupied Palestinian land, documented by Human Rights Watch in 2016 and by Amnesty International in 2026. In July 2024 the International Court of Justice found Israel's occupation unlawful and its settlements illegal. In January 2024 the Palestinian Football Association asked FIFA to investigate the destruction of Palestinian football, including seven destroyed stadiums and 288 damaged or destroyed facilities. It is still waiting.