Those associations must comply with their obligations not to provide “aid or assistance that would help maintain the situation created by Israel’s illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” the panel said.
Speaking to POLITICO earlier this month, UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin said he didn’t believe teams should face competition bans because of the actions of political leaders.
The U.N. experts said countries hosting international organizations, holding competitions, or taking part in sporting events with Israel cannot stay neutral when faced with genocide.
“We are clear that the boycott must be addressed to the State of Israel and not to individual players … National teams representing States that commit massive human rights violations can and should be suspended, as has happened in the past,” they said.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has recently led calls for Israel to be banned from sporting and cultural events, following a sustained campaign against the presence of an Israeli team at a multi-stage cycling race in Spain.
“Why was Russia expelled [from global sporting events] after the invasion of Ukraine, but Israel allowed to remain after the invasion of Gaza?” Sánchez asked rhetorically during a meeting of Socialist Party lawmakers in the Spanish parliament.