Palestinian soccer denied on settler clubs issueThe Palestinian soccer federation has urged FIFA to act against Israel for supporting clubs in its national league from settlement communities in the West Bank. "We have a schedule," Infantino said in a statement on Thursday about the World Cup fixtures announced in December, adding "we want the FIFA World Cup to go ahead as scheduled." No team has refused a World Cup entry since the 1950 edition, a 13-team event in Brazil held in lingering global chaos after World War II. It would be unprecedented in modern World Cup history for a team's schedule to be changed after the draw for political reasons. FIFA judges criticise Israel soccer federationFIFA disciplinary judges did uphold charges against Israeli soccer for institutional discrimination and also cited offensive social media comments by senior officials.

Source: The Telegraph March 20, 2026 05:49 UTC