opinions & letters
Blowing the Whistle on FIFA’s
Systemic Antisemitism
By Jordan Cope
T he FIFA World Cup in Qatar has arguably
become the most controversial to date,
raising widespread indignation over myriad issues
concerning its host, including Qatar’s decision to
ban beer from stadiums and its mistreatment of the
press, the LGBTQ+ community and migrant workers,
6,500 of whom have died since Qatar was awarded
the Cup.

Many issues have been spotlighted, but another
has gone unaddressed: FIFA’s refusal to handle its
own systemic antisemitism. Since this World Cup’s
festivities began, Qatar and FIFA’s proxies have
made their intent to exclude Jews very clear. FIFA’s
silence has been deafening.

First, a FIFA website designed to sell World Cup
tickets and accommodations sought to make easily
identifiable Jewish guests feel unwelcome. To book
tickets, fans had to book through an intermediary
page according to their country of residence. Israel
— where nearly half of all Jews live — was ini-
tially omitted, replaced with “Occupied Palestinian
Territories.” Silence from FIFA.

Reports then emerged that Qatar had banned
Jewish guests attending the World Cup from public
prayer and reneged on a promise to offer cooked
kosher food at games, despite the demand for it,
given that 10,000 to 20,000 Israelis were expected
at the Cup. Again, silence from FIFA.

On four occasions, high-profile experts on antisem-
itism wrote to FIFA, asking that two antisemitism
advisers be permitted to attend and monitor the
tournament. The proposal could have been imple-
mented for free. These advisers and their insights
certainly could have been valuable at an event
hosted by a country that has given nearly $2 billion
to Hamas, which aspires to commit genocide against
the Jews. FIFA ignored the letters.

Antisemitism has since surged at the games. Qatar
has allegedly exercised double standards, allowing
fans to protest against Israel at the Cup, but not
against other countries. Fans have also sought to bully
Israeli reporters, at times denying the Jewish state’s
existence and screaming that Israelis are not welcome.

With FIFA evidently struck dumb in the face of
antisemitism, fans and FIFA officials must seize on
this World Cup as an opportunity to demand that
FIFA rectify its systemic antisemitism, both current
and historical.

FIFA must first do so by offering Israel the oppor-
tunity to rejoin FIFA’s Asian Football Confederation.

Israel’s expulsion from the AFC in 1974 was antise-
mitic and has permanently stifled the Jewish state’s
world soccer prospects.

Attempts to boycott Israel, including its presence
in the AFC, have long been designed to undermine
and eliminate Israel’s existence and the Jewish peo-
ple’s right to self-determination. The first large-scale
boycotts against Israel in the AFC arose during the
1958 championship — well before Israel assumed
control over the disputed territories, belying any
notion that they were based on specific political
issues. Such boycotts were predominantly spear-
headed by Muslim countries, many of which for-
feited their matches in order to avoid engaging with
Israel. This was an attempt to normalize antisemi-
tism in the global community.

Eventually, in 1974, Kuwait spearheaded a res-
olution that, based on stolid Arab rejection of
Israel’s sovereignty, resulted in Israel’s expulsion
from the AFC. Team Israel would remain a nomad
in the international soccer world until joining the
much more competitive Union of European Football
Associations 20 years later.

Israel’s expulsion from the AFC, and FIFA’s institu-
tionalization of this discriminatory conduct, stifled
Israel’s sports ambitions. Despite having won an
Asian Cup and qualified for the World Cup while in
the AFC, Israel has qualified for neither a World Cup
nor a European Championship since joining UEFA.

Israel’s presence in UEFA is unnatural. It remains
the only country in the league that is not located
in Europe.

To combat antisemitism, FIFA must combat the
double standards it has institutionalized against the
Jewish state. Article IV of FIFA’s statutes clearly pro-
scribes discrimination against a country, individual
or group based on national origin, ethnic origin, reli-
gion or political opinion. In accordance with its own
governing policies, FIFA must offer Israel the option
of returning to the AFC. FIFA must also use Article
IV, as appropriate, to punish any team that threatens
to impede such efforts.

FIFA’s senior leadership must also refrain from
normalizing antisemitism targeting Israel, such as
agreeing to meet with patent antisemites, such
as Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas, a
Holocaust denier who has incited violence, and head
of the Palestinian Football Association Jibril Rajoub,
who was banned from FIFA after inciting violence
against the Argentinean team because it planned to
play in Israel.

Lastly, but perhaps most important as an immedi-
ate first step, FIFA should adopt the IHRA Working
Definition of Antisemitism in order to guide the
organization in addressing future discrimination
towards Jews and the Jewish state. The IHRA defi-
nition represents an international consensus. It has
been endorsed by 865 institutions, including nearly
40 countries and some of soccer’s greatest institu-
tions — the English Premier League, the Argentine
Football Association and Borussia Dortmund.

FIFA’s inaction in the face of antisemitism has
enabled the institutionalization and acceptance of
hate in the world of international soccer. FIFA should
give itself a thorough review and finally show
antisemitism the red card, disqualifying anti-Jewish
bigotry from the game for good. JE
Jordan Cope is the director of policy education for
StandWithUs, an international, nonpartisan educa-
tional organization that supports Israel and fights
antisemitism. letters
Sugar’s Op-ed Left a Sour Feeling
In the Nov. 24 issue of the Jewish Exponent, there
was an op-ed by Rebecca Sugar entitled “Dave
Chappelle Was More Than Funny. He Was Right.”
After watching Chappelle’s monologue twice, he
was neither funny, nor right; his monologue was
borderline or outright antisemitic. Nothing he said
was amusing.

Forever, Jews have blamed Jews as to how they
react or don’t react to antisemitism; the Jews were
too docile to the SS or our parents’ generation,
“Shhh, talking about it will only make it worse.”
As a message from the United States Holocaust
Memorial Museum recently stated, “Antisemitic
rhetoric is escalating in its frequency, visibility, and
intensity.” Now is not the time to blame the Jews
for this.

Sugar did not like any of the responses to
the antisemitism of Kanye West or Kyrie Irving.

Among others, she criticized the ADL’s response to
Chappelle’s attempts at humor and did not appre-
ciate Irving’s $500,000 donation to a group that
fights hate. She even thought Chappelle making
fun of the dress of Brooklyn Jews was hilarious.

Sugar made no meaningful suggestion as to how
to respond.

The only thing worth laughing at was the non-
sense Sugar espoused. JE
Robert M. Schwartz, Bala Cynwyd
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