The head of the Palestinian FA criticizes the VP of the Israeli federation at the FIFA Congress | World Cup 2026 news

Representatives of Palestine and Israel were joined at the FIFA Congress in Canada.

The President of the Football Federation Jibril Rajoub refused to stand next to the Israeli FA ⁠Vice President Basim Sheikh Suliman in a heated moment at the 76th FIFA Congress.

Both men were invited to stand by FIFA president Gianni Infantino at the event on Thursday, but Rajoub refused to be approached by Suliman, a Palestinian citizen of Israel.

Infantino put his hand on Rajoub’s arm and beckoned him to come closer to Suliman, but to no avail.

When asked what Rajoub said after his refusal, Palestinian FA Vice President Susan Shalabi, who was in the room, told Reuters: “I cannot shake hands with another person that Israel brought in to destroy their party and kill people!

Israel has denied killing people in Gaza.

Then Infantino said: “Let’s work together, President Rajoub, Vice President Suliman. Let’s work together to give hope to children.”

Speaking to the Reuters news agency after the meeting, Shalabi said Infantino’s attempt to get Suliman and Rajoub to shake hands did not show interest in what the Palestinian FA chief said, while also pleading with Israeli clubs not to set up teams in the West Bank.

“For them to be in a position to shake hands after all that has been said, this defeats the whole purpose of the speech that the chief (Rajoub) is giving,” he said.

“They spent about 15 minutes trying to explain to everyone how the law works, how this could easily be an example when the rights of members’ organizations are being insulted, ⁠ and then we will just sweep this under the carpet.

Last week, the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against FIFA’s decision to ban Israel from clubs based in the West Bank.

The PFA has ruled that clubs based in the West Bank – the part of Palestine it wants as part of a future state – should not compete in competitions run by the Israel Football Association (IFA).

FIFA said last month it would not take any action against the IFA or Israeli clubs, citing the West Bank’s illegality under international law.