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The Football Association of Ireland has given the green light to submit a formal motion to European football's governing body, demanding the banning of Israeli football from all European team and national tournaments.

Grounds for the Recommended Ban

This motion, that had been proposed by Irish side Bohemians, highlighted alleged breaches by the Israel Football Association of two important European football regulations.

• Inability to apply and uphold an proper anti-racism policy.
• Establishment of clubs in occupied Palestinian territories lacking the approval of the Palestinian Football Association.

Ballot Results and Next Steps

According to an official statement from the FAI, the resolution was backed by 74 votes, with seven opposed and 2 abstentions.

The association intends to officially present this motion to the UEFA's decision-making body, seeking the immediate suspension of the IFA from Uefa competitions.

During a special assembly of the FAI, an standard motion was put to members. It passed by a large margin.

Previous European Deliberations

The European body had earlier paused intentions to ban Israeli football at the end of September, following the revealing of Donald Trump's proposed peace plan for the region.

While Uefa never officially confirmed considering an extraordinary meeting on the matter, plans were understood to be well developed.

International Backdrop

The FAI move follows similar demands in September from the heads of Turkish and Norwegian governing bodies for banning Israel from global football.

Those requests were issued after UN specialists urged Fifa and Uefa to suspend Israel, referencing a UN commission of inquiry report that accused Israel of committing genocide during the Gaza conflict.

The Israeli government has denied these allegations and labeled the report as scandalous.

Potential Consequences

If European football's authority choose to suspend the IFA, it would likely strain relations with the US administration – joint hosts for the 2026 World Cup – which strongly opposes such an action.

Even though the European body has the authority to suspend Israel or its clubs from its tournaments, it may not be able to stop them from competing in qualification for the World Cup, which is governed by world football's governing body.