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ISTANBUL: Turkiye on Friday became the first UEFA member to publicly call for Israel to be suspended from soccer, calling the situation in Gaza “inhumane and unacceptable.”
Turkish Football Federation president Ibrahim Haciosmanoglu’s letter to international soccer leaders came as European body UEFA moves toward a vote to suspend Israel, whose men’s team is in the middle of qualifying for next year’s World Cup.
“It is now time for FIFA and UEFA to act,” Haciosmanoglu wrote in the letter quoted by the Anadolu news agency.
“Despite positioning themselves as defenders of civic values and peace, the sporting world and football institutions have remained silent for far too long,” the Turkish official said.
Haciosmanoglu is not on the 20-member UEFA ruling committee, which is expected to have a majority to exclude Israel if a vote is called. The committee includes Israel soccer leader Moshe Zuares, who was elected in April.
The head of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, is closely aligned with 2026 World Cup co-host the United States and President Donald Trump so is seen as unlikely to back a move to suspend Israel.
The US State Department said on Thursday it will work to stop any efforts aiming to ban Israel’s team from the World Cup.
Infantino chairs a meeting of FIFA’s ruling council next Thursday in Zurich.
Norway hosts Israel in a World Cup qualifier in Oslo on Oct. 11 and Italy is due to play Israel in Udine three days later. The Norwegian soccer federation has promised to give its profits on ticket sales to Doctors Without Borders for humanitarian work in Gaza.
FIFA didn’t immediately return requests seeking comment on Friday.
Pressure on international sports to act against Israel has grown this month after days of chaos at the Spanish Vuelta cycle race — which led Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to call for a sporting ban on Israel — a Sept. 9 airstrike by Israel targeting Hamas leaders in Qatar’s capital Doha, and a United Nations Human Rights Council-appointed inquiry accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.
Haciosmanoglu said the situation in Gaza was now more urgent and “football has always been far more than a sport.”
“It is a universal language that brings together different cultures, fosters friendship, and strengthens the bonds of solidarity among peoples,” he wrote. “Guided by these values, we feel compelled to raise our deep concern regarding the unlawful (and more importantly, completely inhumane and unacceptable) situation being carried out by the State of Israel in Gaza and its surrounding areas.”
Turkiye President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in July called Israel a “terrorist state” for its actions in Syria and a destabilizing force in the region.
Israel has qualified for only one men’s World Cup, in 1970, when it advanced by playing against Australia and New Zealand in a section involving teams in Asia not from the Middle East. Israel was exiled from Asian soccer a few years later and has been a full member of UEFA since 1994.

ZURICH: FIFA has sanctioned the Football Association of Malaysia after finding documents submitted to naturalize seven foreign-born players were doctored.
The players — Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Jon Irazábal Iraurgui, Facundo Tomás Garcés, Rodrigo Julián Holgado, Imanol Javier Machuca, João Vitor Brandão Figueiredo and Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano — were all born abroad and featured in Malaysia’s 4-0 win over Vietnam in a 2027 Asian Cup qualifier in June.
The players breached regulations concerning forgery and falsification, FIFA said on Friday.
The FAM submitted eligibility inquiries to FIFA, and in doing so “used doctored documentation to be able to field the above players,” the governing body said.
Each player was suspended for 12 months and fined 2,000 Swiss francs ($2,510). The FAM was fined 350,000 Swiss francs ($438,000).
The players’ eligibility to play for Malaysia will also be investigated, FIFA added.
Vietnamese media reported its national team will be awarded a 3-0 win for the June match, but FIFA made no comment.
Malaysia leads Asia Group F in qualifying with six points from two games, three clear of Vietnam in second. Only the group winner advances to the tournament, with four matches remaining.