Italy: Football coaches seek suspension of Israel World Cup ties

Rome: 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.

“Because the pain of the past cannot cloud anyone’s conscience and humanity.”

Italy is set to play Israel on neutral turf in Debrecen, Hungary on September 8, before hosting the return match in Udine on October 14.

“We could just focus on playing, looking the other way. But we believe that is not right,” AIAC vice president Giancarlo Camolese said.

The Azzurri also played Israel in Udine last October in a Nations League match that saw protests before and during the game and intense security measures, including snipers on the roof of the stadium.

Since then, the situation has continued to deteriorate, with the Palestinian death toll from the 22-month war passing 62,000 earlier this month.

“The world is in flames. Many people like the Palestinians are suffering,” AIAC vice president Francesco Perondi said. “Indifference is unacceptable.”

German tabloid Bild recently reported that Bundesliga 2 football side Fortuna Dusseldorf pulled out of signing Israel international striker Shon Weissman in response to fan anger about his social media posts on the Gaza war.