GENEVA: Palestinian football federation president Jibril Rajoub refused to stand for a photograph with Israeli football official Basim Sheikh Suliman in a tense moment at the close of a FIFA Congress.
After both officials addressed delegates, FIFA President Gianni Infantino invited them to stand alongside him for a photograph.
Rajoub declined, despite repeated attempts by Infantino to encourage him to join.
At one point, Rajoub said: “We are suffering.”
The Palestine Football Association has recently appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport over FIFA’s refusal to sanction Israel regarding football clubs based in the occupied West Bank.
The association argues that clubs located in Israeli settlements should not be permitted to compete in leagues overseen by Israeli football authorities.
In 2024, United Nations experts said at least eight such clubs were operating in what they described as “Israeli colonial settlements” and called on FIFA to uphold its human rights responsibilities.
Speaking to reporters, Rajoub urged FIFA to “apply the statutes with fairness, with logic.”
“What’s going on in Palestine is terrible, destroying all the Palestinian sports facilities in Gaza, the killings of hundreds of Palestinian athletes, employees… I think it’s now the time to make justice,” Rajoub said.
“The guy who spoke on behalf of Israel, he did not even pay attention to the suffering, to what’s going on.
“I refused to shake hands. How can I shake hands or have a photo with such a man?”
