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Poche settimane fa ero in uno stadio di Edimburgo per una partita di Women's football tra Hibernian e Inter Women. Quel pomeriggio, pochi minuti prima del calcio d’inizio, ho visto spuntare alcune bandiere palestinesi a poche file di distanza da me. Sono rimaste visibili per un pochi minuti, giusto il tempo di attirare l’attenzione degli steward, poi il gruppo che le esponeva è stato trascinato fuori dallo stadio. Una scena veloce, identica a episodi registrati in centinaia di impianti sportivi in molte parti del mondo. Episodi che mostrano con chiarezza che il calcio possiede un peso Politician enorme, capace di provocare reazioni immediate da parte delle istituzioni e di chi gestisce la security negli stadi.
Weak institutions and business with Israel
The same logic guides the institutional leaders of the football world. After 7 October 2023, the two most influential bodies, FIFA and UEFA, have adopted an approach that appears designed to avoid friction with Israel. The two organisations have opted for an administrative line, devoid of drastic decisions or gestures capable of impacting the relationship between sport and human rights violations.
The suspensions only affected isolated and temporary cases, justified by security requirements or logistical difficulties for Israeli teams or visiting national teams. For example, some European matches of Israeli clubs were postponed or cancelled when the risks of protest or public disorder appeared too high. According to official communications, these choices were due to the sheer necessity of protecting the safety of athletes, fans, and technical staff.
Misure di questo tipo non hanno mai assunto il carattere di sanzioni disciplinari contro Israele per le sue politiche di Employment o per le violazioni dei diritti umani documentate nei territori palestinesi. Non si è proceduto a nessuna esclusione formale, a decurtazioni di punti o all’irrogazione di multe significative. Le federazioni calcistiche hanno mantenuto un profilo basso, evitando condanne pubbliche o prese di posizione nette che avrebbero potuto scuotere l’intero sistema.
FIFA aligned
The same attitude is reflected in the stance adopted by FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who, after the famous 7 October He preferred to send neutral letters to both sides, proposing football as a tool for hope and reconstruction, without addressing the issue of responsibility.
Infantino even participated in the event in Sharm el-Sheikh on the 13th of last October, convened by the President of the United States, Donald Trump. It was an extraordinary summit dedicated to peace and truce in the Gaza Strip, where the main world leaders involved in the Middle Eastern conflict gathered.
The FIFA president has taken on the role of a representative of the sporting world, presenting himself with the tones of a diplomatic ceremony. He promised that the body he leads will support the recovery of sports infrastructure in Palestine and Gaza, announcing his intention to rebuild destroyed pitches and stadiums, provide footballs, send coaches, and support young athletes, in collaboration with the Palestinian Football Association.
The initiative was publicly presented as a project of hope and unity, a way to bring football to every corner of the country to help overcome divisions and difficulties.
Infantino, however, has never addressed the issue of military restrictions, widespread destruction, and human rights violations that have affected Palestinians and sports and civilian infrastructure during the genocide in the enclave.
La sua presenza in Egitto non ha fatto altro che rafforzare la sua rete personale di relazioni con leader come Trump e i rappresentanti del Golfo, investiti di potere economico e mediatico.
Infantino capitalised on this visibility to promote FIFA's image as a peace-making organisation, leaving out fundamental issues and direct responsibilities in the massacre of a people.
The real test for the consistency of world football, however, is UEFA. It is little known that the European body directly finances the Israeli Football Association through its development programmes.
The main one is the HatTrick plan, a fund that channels a significant portion of the revenue from the European Championships to member federations to support various types of projects. It is through this channel that UEFA has contributed, for example, to the creation of the Women's Football Academy and the IFA National Training Centre in Israel.
Una parte di questi fondi, inoltre, viene distribuita a sei club che giocano negli Israeli settlements in territori occupati della West Bank, su terre sottratte ai palestinesi.
In this way, UEFA indirectly contributes to the sporting life of settlements that international law considers illegal, although the organisation attempts to avoid any assumption of responsibility for this network of financial relationships.
Il confronto con la sospensione della Russia
How, then, is the difference in reaction compared to Russia's suspension in 2022 explained? After the invasion of Ukraine, FIFA and UEFA banned the Russian federation in less than two days. There was a complete lack of public debate, as well as any attempt at postponement or seeking diplomatic solutions. In Israel's case, however, the Palestinian federation's official request to suspend the IFA remains unanswered. FIFA is postponing the decision, stating that the issue requires legal assessments and that procedures must be respected.
Amnesty International, All Out e molte federazioni arabe hanno chiesto un intervento immediato, presentando dossier dettagliati su uccisioni di atleti palestinesi, bombardamenti su impianti sportivi, spoliazione di territori. Nonostante le pressanti richieste, i dirigenti sportivi europei continuano a trattare Israele come una federazione qualsiasi, nascondendosi dietro una neutralità usata per evitare conflitti con governi capaci di influenzare sedi politiche e investimenti.
Alongside this management, there is an increasingly visible hardening towards any public expression of solidarity with Palestine in stadiums. As I myself have had the opportunity to see firsthand, in several countries a repressive efficiency is observed, ready to intervene when a Palestinian flag appears in the stands, as if it were an object capable of questioning the entire order of European football, by targeting peaceful forms of dissent.
Censura e repressione negli stadi europei
To measure the paranoia of the sports authorities towards Palestine, a ticket to the Bernabéu is enough. In several league and Champions League matches, Real Madrid stewards have confiscated Palestinian flags with timely and coordinated operations.
Fan testimonies indicate random checks at entry gates, selective searches, and immediate removals even when flags were kept still on laps or simply placed on seats.
In some cases, people who had shown no sign of protest were removed, as if the mere presence of those colours was enough to create alarm. The company has never convincingly explained these interventions, taking refuge in generic formulas about security and internal order.
The feeling among the fans is that the club prefers to prevent any political discussion, even when there is no risk, through obsessive control that ends up affecting legitimate expressions.
The French climate appears to be growing even more oppressive. Prefectures in several cities have explicitly banned Palestinian flags at national team matches. The statements cite the usual security concerns and an alleged danger of escalating tensions, without any reference to specific incidents that could justify such drastic measures. The result is a de facto pre-emptive ban, applied uniformly to anyone entering the stadium. Here too, fans report intrusive checks at turnstiles, extensive searches, and the requirement to hand over any item that evokes Palestine.
Clashes and tensions during matches
Unfortunately, alongside the confiscation of flags and searches at entrances, the Israeli-Palestinian crisis is also entering stadiums with direct violence.
Amsterdam is perhaps the most serious case. On the days of the Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv, 6 and 7 November 2024, the city descended into absolute chaos, with violent clashes between groups of Israeli fans, pro-Palestinian activists, and residents. Urban warfare erupted when the Maccabi Fanatics crossed the city centre, tearing down Palestinian flags from private buildings. Chanting openly racist slogans like “death to Arabs”, they even attempted to force entry into a building where more flags were hanging.
The response was not long in coming. On the evening of the match, groups of young people identifying with the Palestinian cause organised actual ambushes against Israeli fans. The toll was at least seven people admitted to hospital, five of whom were Israeli, about twenty minor injuries and over sixty arrests.
I giudici olandesi hanno poi inflitto pene detentive fino a sei mesi per alcuni degli aggressori, riconoscendo il carattere organizzato degli attacchi dopo la partita. Amsterdam ha reagito con misure di emergenza, divieti di manifestazione per più giorni e un rafforzamento imponente della presenza di polizia attorno ai luoghi legati alla comunità ebraica e palestinese.
An equally telling episode occurred in Athens in March 2024. In Syntagma Square, a man waving a Palestinian flag ended up in hospital after being surrounded and beaten by a group of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans, who had specially travelled to Greece for the Conference League match against Olympiacos. The video of the assault shows sudden and targeted violence against an isolated victim, chosen solely for the colours they were holding.
The protests in Udine
Italy has also known this violence, which had its epicentre in Udine in a double, significant stage.
The first took place on 14th October 2024 for the Nations League match between Italy and Israel, with the city under exceptional security measures.
L’area dello stadio e gli hotel delle squadre furono trasformati in una “zona rossa”, presidiati da controlli a cerchi concentrici con prefiltraggi, dissuasori mobili e un grosso dispiegamento di forze di polizia. In centro, la comunità palestinese e decine di associazioni sfilarono in corteo contro la disputa della partita, denunciando i bombardamenti a Gaza e il sostegno politico e sportivo concesso a Israele.
That day ended without serious clashes, but it left several points for reflection. Every time the Israeli national team takes to the field, football becomes a means of taking a stand. Faced with a peaceful protest march, the institutions set aside dialogue, choosing to respond with security measures worthy of a military operation, transforming the city into a military outpost.
A suspension of democracy
The 2024 one merely proved to be a dress rehearsal. On 14 October 2025, the same match triggered a far more serious chain reaction. Before the World Cup qualifier between Italy and Israel, organisations for Palestine called for a national demonstration, “Show Israel the red card”. Thousands answered the call, marching with a large Palestinian flag, placards accusing the FIGC of complicity, and a shroud several metres long bearing the names of thousands of minors killed in Gaza.
The procession crossed a half-empty Udine, with shops closed for fear of incidents and a deployment of law enforcement that was reminiscent of an international summit.
Entire neighbourhoods effectively became no-go zones, with some families being asked by the authorities to temporarily leave their homes while the territory was being secured by airport-style checks, water cannons ready for use, snipers on rooftops, and access denied to non-residents in the area hosting the Israeli national team.
The day deteriorated into the evening when, following the peaceful demonstration, a group of a few dozen people attempted to break through the police cordon on Viale della Vittoria. The authorities reacted without warning, deploying water cannons at close range, followed by tear gas and, to a lesser extent, batons.
Six observers from Amnesty International Italy, who specialise in monitoring public situations at risk, have documented the actions of law enforcement. Their observation, combined with video analysis, has confirmed the widespread and indiscriminate use of tear gas munitions and grenades.
The Udine Police Headquarters reported that they deployed around 150. The tear gas, initially aimed at the minority attempting to break through the cordon, subsequently reached Piazza I Maggio. Final speeches of the peaceful demonstration were taking place in that square, with thousands of people present, including the elderly and minors.
Amnesty International's intervention
The organisers were forced to end the event considerably earlier than the agreed times, in order to protect the safety of those present. The provisional assessment from the local press reports three injuries, including a TV cameraman hit in the face, and at least thirteen people detained and taken to the police station. Amnesty International has included the events in Udine among the confirmed cases of human rights violations that occurred in Italy, citing the disproportionate use of force and restrictions on the right to protest.
A few days before the match, in the background, controversy had broken out over the presence of Mossad. A news story published by Gazzetta dello Sport and picked up by several media outlets claimed that the Israeli national team would be escorted by secret service agents, with transfers to secret locations and continuous surveillance.
Intelligence on the rooftops
The Department of Security formally denied the operational presence of Israeli intelligence in Udine, but political concerns remained. In an official statement, regional councillor Serena Pellegrino and municipal group leader Andrea Di Lenardo explicitly spoke of authorisation for Mossad to operate on Italian territory on 14 October.
They recalled a previous public order management in Parma that was effectively entrusted to Israeli apparatuses and defined the idea that an intelligence service accused of war crimes could operate in Italy as “inconceivable”.
They denounced a government that, in their judgment, was outsourcing security to an army accused of genocide and violations of international law, and they openly called for a demonstration in Udine.
On Udine, therefore, three levels overlapped. The first concerned extreme security management around the matches with Israel. The second involved a pro-Palestine movement that organised itself and was treated as a potential threat to be neutralised. The third introduced the shadow of Israeli secret services into public debate.
The mobilisation of international players
Alongside these clashes between fans, however, the crisis began to overwhelm the protagonists of the football world from the outset. As early as the beginning of the Israeli aggression in Gaza, some footballing figures paid a very heavy price for taking a public stance.
One of the first cases concerns Youcef Atal, an Algerian international defender for OGC Nice, who was suspended by the club on 18 October 2023 following a social media post about the Palestinian massacre.
The post in question, which involved viewing and sharing a video of a Palestinian preacher calling for “divine guidance” against Jews, led to an investigation for “religious incitement”. The club stated that Atal “had acknowledged the error” and suspended him indefinitely.
Although he apologised shortly afterwards, the damage was done, ending up being sentenced by a French court to eight months on probation and a €45,000 fine for “incitement to hatred” due to the post.
The case of Anwar El Ghazi
While the condemnation of Atal was unanimous, the club's reaction to another stance, that of Anwar El Ghazi, would subsequently be judged excessive and illegitimate by the law itself. The incident took place in Germany and involved the Dutch-Moroccan forward, who had signed for FSV Mainz 05 in September 2023.
Sempre nell’ottobre 2023 il club lo sospese “dalle attività di allenamento e partita” in seguito a un post sui social che il club definì “inaccettabile” in relazione al conflitto. Il giocatore rifiutò di ritrattare le sue dichiarazioni e in un post successivo aveva scritto “This is not conflict […] this is genocide and mass destruction and we are witnessing it live. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”.
The club decided to sack him in November 2023. El Ghazi took legal action for unfair dismissal and, in July 2024, a German court ruled that the termination of the contract was illegitimate, ordering Mainz to pay the attacker €1.5 million in back pay. The club's appeal was subsequently rejected in November 2024, a ruling that confirmed the dismissal violated the player's right to freedom of expression.
A third profile, that of Noussair Mazraoui, completes this spectrum of reactions, demonstrating how even a simple message of support for Palestine, without extreme connotations, has triggered pressure for a U-turn. The fact that he was not formally suspended appears to indicate that the punishment varies according to the negotiating or media context.
General repression
All of this goes to show that when an athlete in European football takes a public and openly pro-Palestinian stance, not necessarily in the form of a sophisticated political discourse but even just with an image or a social media post, the consequences can be immediate. Clubs, federations, and media outlets spring into action to contain the intervention, sometimes resorting to suspensions, transfers, or dismissals. Fortunately, however, all this repression has not dampened the determination of many fan bases, athletes, and insiders.
An international letter
More than seventy international players, including big names like Paul Pogba, Hakim Ziyech, Adama Traoré, Franck Kessié, Benjamin Mendy, Eric Bailly and Ousmane Dembélé, have signed an open letter addressed to UEFA calling for the immediate suspension of Israel from European competitions, mirroring the measure taken against Russia in 2022. The letter has been reported by numerous European sports outlets, quickly becoming a political document with implications far beyond the purely footballing sphere.
The text starkly outlines the reality denounced by the athletes, documenting the killing of dozens of Palestinian footballers, including very young players from minor teams, along with the demolition of sports facilities, training grounds, and school structures. The list continues with the dismantling of entire youth teams, orphaned of both spaces and coaches. The signatory athletes highlight how Palestine has been deprived not only of a generation of athletes but also of the very opportunity to cultivate a future through sport.
The letter is the first collective mobilisation of this scale internationally. Footballers from different leagues and federations, often reluctant to speak out for fear of sanctions or professional repercussions, have chosen to sign a document that challenges the institutions that govern European football.
For the first time, collective dissent is not coming from the terraces, but from the heart of the system and from the athletes who generate profits, audiences, television rights, and who represent the economic value of competitions.
Symbolic events and solidarity matches
In Scozia, il Celtic Park è diventato una delle piazze più solide della solidarietà. La Brigata Verde, storico gruppo ultras del Celtic FC, ha lanciato la campagna “Mostra il cartellino rosso a Israele”, trasformando ogni partita interna in un appuntamento politico. Migliaia di tifosi hanno sollevato cartoncini rossi con il nome di Israele ben leggibile, chiedendo alla UEFA di sospendere la federazione israeliana dalle competizioni europee. Gli spalti si sono riempiti di bandiere palestinesi, cori e striscioni che ricordavano le distruzioni a Gaza, i calciatori uccisi e la rete di impunity che circonda l’azione militare nel territorio.
La campagna ha avuto un effetto immediato, portando tifoserie in Spagna, Francia, Italia e Turchia a riprendere lo stesso gesto, moltiplicando le immagini che circolavano sui social e mettendo in difficoltà federazioni che tentavano di mostrare un profilo neutrale. Il Celtic ha ricevuto richiami e minacce di multa da parte della UEFA, ma la tifoseria ha scelto di andare oltre, dichiarando che la solidarietà verso la Palestina non può essere repressa da norme disciplinari scritte per limitare il dissenso.
Turkey
In Turkey, participation has become spontaneous and overwhelming. The Galatasaray and Bursaspor stands displayed enormous Palestinian flags during league matches, accompanied by chants accusing Israel of massacring the population of Gaza.
The images, captured by the Turkish press and then echoed in international newspapers, made it clear that a significant portion of the Turkish public had made it known that European repression would not find fertile ground there. Turkish societies chose not to intervene, neither with bans nor with seizures, accepting the fact that fans were interpreting football as a tool for collective protest.
The Champions League London
One of the strongest signals arrived in London during the 2025 Champions League final. In the PSG section, a gigantic banner appeared with the words “Stop genocide in Gaza”. The image went around the world, becoming the most shared of the evening and immediately triggering a reaction from UEFA, which opened disciplinary proceedings against the Parisian club for “political messages”.
However, the threats of sanctions did not overshadow the resonance of the banner, which forced the media, executives, and sponsors to confront a reality that is now impossible to remove: that European football can no longer contain the voice of its stands when they decide to speak out about what is happening in Palestine.
Pochi mesi dopo, la scena spagnola ha dimostrato come questa presa di coscienza stesse ormai maturando modalità di azione concrete. Il 15 novembre, a Bilbao, il San Mamés si è riempito per un’amichevole che ha assunto un valore storico. La Euskal Selekzioa, la rappresentativa dei Paesi Baschi, ha affrontato la nazionale palestinese davanti a 51.396 spettatori. Nel pomeriggio la città era stata attraversata da manifestazioni che denunciavano le operazioni militari israeliane, e lo stadio ha raccolto quel clima trasformandolo in un rito collettivo. Striscioni, cori, bandiere e messaggi di sostegno hanno accompagnato le due squadre durante tutto il match.
The two teams, united by a long history of claims linked to their national identity, found in the stadium a form of mutual recognition that no international federation had ever granted to Palestine, an arena of legitimisation that went far beyond the simple sporting result.
The same spirit inspired the appeal launched by Pep Guardiola ahead of the friendly match between Catalonia and Palestine, organised in Barcelona on 18 November. The Manchester City manager asked Catalan fans to fill the stadium to support the Palestinian team and remember the more than four hundred footballers killed since the start of the siege.
The proceeds from the match are destined for humanitarian and community projects in Palestine and represent one of the clearest examples of how football, when freed from the constraints imposed by federations, can become a concrete gesture of rebuilding and support.
When football surpasses neutrality
Now, European and Mediterranean curves are developing an autonomous political language, capable of challenging sanctions and directives. Palestine makes its entrance into stadiums as a concrete presence, supported by collectives who claim football as a tool for active solidarity.
Il tentativo di tenere lo sport lontano dalla Geopolitics si fa così sempre più evanescente, poiché gli stadi sono ormai tribune da cui denunciare apertamente guerre e occupazioni. Gli interventi disciplinari e il sequestro delle bandiere avvalorano l’impressione che il calcio funga da barriera per contenere la realtà esterna.
The rolling ball has become a magnifying glass on the gap between proclaimed principles and actual choices. Football institutions move cautiously, follow procedures, evoke technical criteria, but the public, athletes, ultras, and civil committees bring issues into stadiums that no regulation can any longer contain.
Sport, with its immediate and universal language, reaches places where diplomatic summits fail. For this reason, host cities become spaces where solidarity, anger, and memory intersect. The decisive challenge for institutions is therefore to choose whether to listen to this grassroots momentum, accepting that football also represents a form of civic participation, or to retreat into a disciplinary approach destined to lose credibility. Because football, whether its officials like it or not, has once again become a field profoundly shaped by history.