The Israeli Football Association says Reebok reversed course only after legal threats.

By World Israel News Staff

Athleticwear giant Reebok has denied reports that it surrendered to pressure from the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, after Israel’s national soccer team said the company demanded its logo be removed from team jerseys.

“Reebok is proud of our record as a unifier of all cultures on and off the pitch. Reports in Israeli news outlets claiming that Reebok has directed the IFA [Israeli Football Association] to remove its logos from its national team kits are simply not true,” a company spokesperson told Reuters on Tuesday evening.

“We will continue to honor our brand’s and our local licensee’s commitment to the IFA. We don’t do politics; we do sport.”

The Israeli Football Association, however, disputed Reebok’s denial. According to the IFA, Reebok did demand that its logos be removed but reversed the decision only after the sports body threatened legal action for breach of contract.

“Reebok reversed its decision and the Israel national team’s uniforms in international matches will continue to feature the company’s logo as it has been up to now,” the IFA said in a Hebrew-language statement.

On Tuesday morning, the IFA publicly accused Reebok of “caving to irrelevant and embarrassing boycott threats.”

The controversy comes after German sportswear brand Puma ended its sponsorship of Israel’s national team in December 2023.

At the time, Puma insisted the decision had been made in 2022 and was unrelated to political considerations.

Since the October 7 Hamas massacres and the subsequent war in Gaza, Israel has faced mounting hostility throughout the international sports world.

“Israel is committing genocide: Soccer federations, boycott Israel,” read an electronic sign in New York’s Times Square, displayed in September and paid for by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC).

In August, the Italian Coaches’ Association penned a letter to the president of the Italian soccer federation (FIGC), demanding that Israel be excluded from the upcoming 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

The post Did Reebok demand removal of its logo from Israeli team jerseys? appeared first on World Israel News.

“Does a child’s life in Gaza mean less than another?” read an additional banner displayed by fans during the game.

By World Israel News Staff

A massive banner depicting the Dome of the Rock and a Palestinian keffiyeh superimposed over the outline of the modern state of Israel was displayed at a major Champions League soccer game, which was watched by millions on television.

Fans of Qatar-owned soccer team Paris Saint Germain (PSG) displayed a huge banner with the words “Free Palestine” and imagery associated with the anti-Israel movement, including a keffiyeh-clad figure with a raised fist and a Palestinian flag.

“Does a child’s life in Gaza mean less than another?” read an additional banner displayed by fans during the game.

The banner was displayed during PSG’s Wednesday night match against Atletico Madrid, another European soccer powerhouse.

Next Thursday, the France and Israeli national teams are set to play against each other in France.

PSG’s owners claimed that they were unaware of the fan’s plans to unfurl the huge banner, which covered an entire seating section of the stadium.

“Paris St Germain recalls that the Parc des Princes is — and must remain — a place of communion around a common passion for soccer and firmly opposes any message of a political nature in its stadium,” the club said in a media statement.

In a radio interview on Thursday morning, French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau slammed the display, calling it “unacceptable.”

When asked by Sud Radio if he would consider punitive measures against the team for the banner, Retailleau said that he is “not ruling out anything.”

He added that he “will demand explanations from PSG.”

In September, some 50 Italian fans turned their backs while the Israeli national anthem was played before a match between the Israeli and Italian national soccer teams, then booed and jeered when a commentator said the word “Israel.”

In a statement, the fans said that they had turned their backs in order to protest the “genocide committed by Israel in Gaza.”

The post Soccer fans display ‘Free Palestine’ banner erasing Israel at game appeared first on World Israel News.

The PFA submitted a proposal in May to sanction Israel and ban Israeli teams from all international soccer competitions due to the war in Gaza.

By Shiryn Ghermezian, The Algemeiner

The Israel Football Association (IFA) has reacted to FIFA’s recent decision not to suspend the Israeli club and instead investigate the IFA over allegations of discrimination by the Palestinian Football Association (PFA), which is also calling for Israel’s suspension from international soccer matches.

“Whoever fantasized about the suspension of Israeli football from the international arena or sanctions through lies and false accusations, has suffered a defeat,” read a statement given to Fox News Digital by IFA head of communications Shlomi Barzell over the weekend.

“Again, we have acted over time in different channels, in a calculated and proactive manner in the face of the challenge of the Palestinian Association and its leader to distort reality, and the result today leaves no room for doubt.”

“We respect the authors of the report submitted to the council members and the decision of the council members to consider transferring two issues to a legal examination, as long as there is any factual justification for it,” the statement further noted.

“Thanks to values that represent a glorious democracy and an independent and determined legal system of the Football Association, we have never violated and will not violate any of the FIFA/UEFA rules.”

FIFA, the world’s governing body for soccer, announced on Oct. 3 that its disciplinary committee will launch an investigation into claims by the PFA that the IFA is complicit in the Israeli government’s alleged violation of international law during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

The PFA also accused the IFA of discriminating against Arab players and including teams located in Palestinian territory in its leagues.

“The FIFA Disciplinary Committee will be mandated to initiate an investigation into the alleged offense of discrimination raised by the Palestine Football Association,” FIFA said in a statement.

*“FIFA’s Governance, Audit, and Compliance Committee will be entrusted with the mission to investigate — and subsequently advise the FIFA Council on — the participation in Israeli competitions of Israeli football teams allegedly based in the territory of Palestine.”

FIFA gave no timetable for when results of the investigation will be announced.

“The FIFA Council has implemented due diligence on this very sensitive matter and, based on a thorough assessment, we have followed the advice of the independent experts,” added FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

“The ongoing violence in the region confirms that, above all considerations, and as stated at the 74th FIFA Congress, we need peace. As we remain extremely shocked by what is happening, and our thoughts are with those who are suffering, we urge all parties to restore peace to the region with immediate effect.”

The PFA submitted a proposal in May to sanction Israel and ban Israeli teams from all international soccer competitions due to the war in Gaza.

The proposal cited “international law violations committed by the Israeli occupation in Palestine, particularly in Gaza” and referenced FIFA statutory commitments on human rights and against discrimination. The proposal also accused the Israel Football Association (IFA) of “providing moral, economic, and practical support to the occupation” of Palestinian territories.

FIFA has repeatedly delayed making its final decision about the PFA proposal.

The post Israel’s soccer association responds to FIFA’s decision not to suspend Jewish state despite Palestinian efforts appeared first on World Israel News.

“It’s unfortunate that for you, new crowds do not include Shabbat-keeping fans.”

By Debbie Reiss, World Israel News

Religious Zionist party chief Bezalel Smotrich has called on Israeli professional soccer leagues to stop holding games on Shabbat, prompting outrage from opposition lawmakers and soccer fans.

In a letter to commissioner of the Israeli Professional Football Leagues, Erez Halfon, Smotrich claimed that playing on Shabbat was unfair to religious soccer fans.

“It’s unfortunate that for you, new crowds do not include Shabbat-keeping fans. You have chosen to ignore a large audience of players, children and families,” Smotrich wrote.

He further declared that playing on Shabbat was an “undemocratic, unsportsmanlike, non-Jewish act that must be stopped”.

In a response to Smotrich, the Israeli Professional Football Leagues said it had recently moved up the times of the games to accommodate families. “People want to see football at comfortable hours, and to be able to get back home at a normal hour, before a busy weekend,” the IPFL said.

“Football was played on Shabbat even before the founding of Israel,” the soccer body added.

Labor leader Merav Michaeli slammed Smotrich for religious coercement.

“Smotrich has not yet sat in his [coalition] seat and already, he’s trying to force his religious way of life on the entire nation of Israel,” she wrote. “Soccer games will continue as usual and if you dare to change it, the public will show you the way out. Israel will not be a theocracy.”

The letter came on the heels of an announcement by Halfon that Israel’s Premier League was set to increase the number of games on Shabbat at the behest of soccer fans, who claim that weekday games are more difficult to attend.

Despite Michaeli’s misgivings, government ministries, even the sports ministry, do not have the power to make demands of the IPFL, a private organization that is not subsidized by public monies.

The post Smotrich seeks end to soccer games on shabbat, prompting outrage appeared first on World Israel News.

Top Israeli team Maccabi Haifa and UAE’s Al-Ain FC team to hold friendly match in Abu Dhabi.

By Paul Shindman, World Israel News

The peace accord between Israel and the United Arab Emirates got a boost Tuesday when the two countries’ soccer federations signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to develop the sport together, the Emirates’ WAM news agency reported.

The news of the accord came after the weekend announcement that one of Israel’s top professional teams, Maccabi Haifa, will travel to Dubai for an exhibition “friendly” match against the UAE’s Al-Ain Football Club in Abu Dhabi.

Al-Ain is the most decorated team in UAE history and has won the local championship 13 times, reaching the final of the Club World Cup in 2018 where it lost to European champions Real Madrid.

Maccabi Haifa owner Yaakov Shachar said his team would attend the exhibition match dubbed the “Game of Peace” in the UAE.

“We informed them that we would be happy to play against them in Abu Dhabi and host them in our city, Haifa. Their positive and happy response has just been received and the date for the game will be set later, according to the two clubs’ schedules,” Shachar said.

The MOU marks the first sports-related agreement between an Arab country and Israel and will include holding joint workshops to market and promote the game and develop the technical aspects of soccer in the two countries.

The MOU was signed Monday in a video conference with Abdulla Naser Al Junaibi, chairman of the UAE Pro League, and Erez Halfon, chairman of the Israeli Professional Football League.

“[Soccer] has always been the most important and fast path to bring people together. These are the cooperation pillars we aim at through this agreement, through which we hope to achieve gains for both parties,” Al Junaibi said. “We also aim to organize joint activities between the two leagues and to assure cooperation to reinforce the economic, commercial, technological and technical sides between the two leagues.”

Halfon recognized the importance of soccer as a bridge builder between the countries.

“[Soccer] is the most popular sport not only in the world, but also in both Israel and the United Arab Emirates,” Halfon said. “The passion for football transcends religions, nations and races, and we have the ability to use it as a tool to build relationships and break down walls between people, of all genders, and of all races.”

“It seems that there’s more that unites us than divides us,” Halfon said, adding that Israel is hoping for more agreements with other countries in the region.

Shortly after the two countries signed the historic Abraham Accords and established diplomatic relations, Arab-Israeli soccer player Dia Saba signed with the UAE’s Al-Nasser Football Club.

While pro soccer has been Israel’s number one sport since before the founding of the modern state in 1948, the UAE Pro League was only founded in 2008.

The post Israel-UAE soccer federations sign development agreement appeared first on World Israel News.

Israeli soccer star Menashe Zalka withdrew from the Israel Football Association’s “Social Responsibility All-Star Team” initiative.

The post WATCH: Israeli soccer star pulls out of project upon learning far-left New Israel Fund behind it appeared first on World Israel News.