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The Football Association of Ireland has given the green light to submit a official proposal to European football's governing body, calling for the banning of Israel from all European team and national tournaments.

Basis of the Proposed Ban

This motion, that had been put forward by Irish side Bohemians, highlighted claimed violations by the Israel Football Association of two important Uefa statutes.

• Failure to apply and uphold an proper anti-racism policy.
• Establishment of football teams in disputed territories lacking the approval of the Palestinian Football Association.

Vote Outcome and Next Steps

According to an announcement from the Irish FA, the resolution was backed by 74 votes, with 7 against and two abstentions.

The association plans to formally submit this motion to the UEFA's decision-making body, asking for the immediate suspension of the Israel Football Association from Uefa competitions.

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

Earlier Uefa Considerations

Uefa had previously paused plans to exclude Israel at the end of September, following the revealing of Donald Trump's proposed peace plan for the region.

While they never publicly stated contemplating an special session on the issue, plans were believed to be well developed.

Global Context

This Irish move follows comparable calls in last autumn from the leaders of both Turkey and Norway's football associations for Israel's suspension from international competition.

These appeals were made after UN specialists urged world and European football bodies to ban Israel, citing a UN investigation that accused the country of acts of genocide during the Gaza conflict.

Israel has rejected these claims and described the findings as outrageous.

Potential Consequences

Should European football's authority decide to suspend Israel, it would likely strain relations with the United States government – joint hosts for the upcoming World Cup – which strongly opposes such an action.

Although the European body has the authority to exclude Israeli teams from European competitions, it might not be able to stop them from competing in World Cup qualifiers, which is governed by world football's governing body.