Italy’s national football team are due to play Israel in two World Cup qualifiers ahead of the 2026 tournament.
The Italian Football Coaches’ Association (AIAC) is pushing for Israel to be suspended from international competition over the war on Gaza.
Ahead of Italy’s crucial World Cup qualifiers against Israel in the next two months, the AIAC says “Israel must stop. Football must also take action.”
The AIAC has written a formal letter to the Italian football federation, to be forwarded to European and world football’s governing bodies, calling for Israel to be suspended.
“The AIAC Board of Directors unanimously believes that, given the daily massacres, which have also resulted in hundreds of deaths among managers, coaches, and athletes … it is legitimate, necessary, indeed a duty, to place at the centre of federation talks the request, to be submitted to UEFA and FIFA, for the temporary exclusion of Israel from sporting competitions,” the letter concludes.
