Boycotts of Israel in sports refer to various disqualifications and denial of Israeli athletes due to the refusal of some countries to recognize the state of Israel and to outrage about Israeli actions such as the Gaza genocide. As part of a more or less systematic boycott of Israel, Israeli athletes and teams have been barred from some competitions. In many international competitions, where Israel does take part, such as the Olympic Games, some Arab and Muslim competitors avoid competing against Israelis. Some countries, most notably Iran, even compel their athletes not to compete against Israelis or in Israel.
History The Arab League boycott of Israel The Israel Football Association was a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) group of FIFA between 1954 and 1974. Because of the Arab League boycott of Israel, several Arab and Muslim states refused to compete against Israel. The political situation culminated in Israel winning the 1958 World Cup qualifying stage for Asia and Africa without playing a single game, forcing FIFA to schedule a playoff between Israel and Wales to ensure the Israeli team did not qualify without playing at least one game (which Wales won). In 1974, Israel was expelled from the AFC group by a resolution initiated by Kuwait, which was adopted by AFC by a vote of 17 to 13 with 6 abstentions. To get around the ban, Israel was admitted as an associated member of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) in 1992, and was admitted as a full member of the UEFA group in 1994. Supporters of the Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS) movement have advocated for Israel to be expelled or suspended from FIFA, without success. On 24 August 2018, the President of the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) Jibril Rajoub was fined CHF 20,000 (US$20,333) and banned from FIFA matches for a year for inciting hatred and violence against an Argentinian team proposing to play a friendly match in Israel.
The 1976 Chess Olympiad was held in the Israeli city of Haifa, which generated controversy, since several countries, such as the Soviet Union and the Arab nations, did not recognize the state of Israel. As FIDE refused to change the venue, the Soviet team boycotted the tournament in protest, as did all Soviet satellite states in Eastern Europe and FIDE member Arab nations, which held an alternative Chess Olympiad in the Libyan city of Tripoli.
In October 2017, when an Israeli Tal Flicker won gold in an international judo championship in the United Arab Emirates, officials refused to fly the Israeli flag and play the Israeli national anthem, instead playing the official music of the International Judo Federation (IJF) and flying the IJF's logo. The UAE also banned Israeli athletes from wearing their country's symbols on uniforms, having to wear IJF uniforms. Other contestants such as Gili Cohen received similar treatment. In December 2017, seven Israelis were denied visas by Saudi Arabia to compete in an international chess tournament. In October 2018, the UAE reversed its position allowing the Israeli flag be displayed and anthem played when an Israeli judoka Sagi Muki won a gold medal.
On 24 May 2018, a team of international jurists, including Harvard Professor Alan Dershowitz, announced a plan to petition the international Court of Arbitration for Sport against the exclusion of Israel's flag and anthem at sporting events in Arab countries. In July 2018, the International Judo Federation cancelled two grand slam judo events, in Tunis and Abu Dhabi, because Israeli flags were not allowed to be raised. Also in July 2018, the World Chess Federation said it will ban Tunisia from hosting the international chess competition in 2019 if it does not grant a visa to Israeli contestants, including a seven-year-old Israeli girl champion.
In March 2019, the Israeli national anthem was played in Qatar after Israeli gymnast Alexander Shatilov won the gold medal for the floor exercise during the 2019 FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup series. The anthem had previously been played in Abu Dhabi in October 2018, after Israeli judoka Sagi Muki won the gold medal in the Judo Grand Competition.
In 2024 New Year's Eve, Jordan's Football Association (JFA) asked in a statement from the global sports community for determining "decisive action to stop the aggression against Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied territories." Based on the statement, in order to restrict Israeli sport in International competition, "stringent sanctions" were demanded.
Boycott for Operation Cast Lead (2009) In 2009, there was an increased number of boycotts and boycott campaigns against Israeli athletes over Operation Cast Lead. Israeli tennis star Shahar Peer was denied a visa to participate in a tournament in Dubai, leading to comments from stars like Venus Williams and Andy Roddick that were critical of the Dubai authorities' decision, with Roddick later pulling out of a tournament in Dubai. After a response that included a cable network cancelling its coverage of the event and a large fine for the Dubai Tennis Authorities, the United Arab Emirates did issue a visa for Israeli tennis player Andy Ram to compete that year. Campaigners in New Zealand asked Peer to heed the BDS call and not participate in local NZ tournaments, but Peer publicly dismissed them and the officials welcomed Peer's participation.
Tennis authorities in Malmö, Sweden wanted to cancel a Davis Cup match between Israel and Sweden because of anti-Israel riots and because the city council did not want the Israeli team competing in the city. The tennis authorities were unwilling to accept a Swedish forfeit, which would have eliminated Sweden from the competition, and decided to bar spectators from the match instead (Israel ended up knocking Sweden out of the 2009 tournament with a 3–2 series victory). As a punishment, the city was banned from hosting Davis Cup matches for five years and fined thousands of dollars.
2012 London Olympics Supporters of the BDS movement also tried and failed to have Israeli teams barred from the 2012 London Olympics and the 2016 Rio Olympics. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Egypt's Islam El Shehaby provoked outrage after refusing to shake hands with Israeli judoka, Or Sasson.
2019 World Paralympic Swimming Championships On 18 January 2019, Israel called upon the International Paralympic Committee to move the World Paralympic Swimming Championships scheduled for Malaysia in July 2019 because it has refused to let Israelis participate. 10 days later, the IPC confirmed that due to Malaysia's actions regarding Israeli visas, the championships would be stripped from Malaysia and moved to another location. The IPC board said Malaysia “failed to provide the necessary guarantees that Israeli Para swimmers could participate, free from discrimination, and safely in the Championships”, including full compliance with the IPC protocols related to anthems and flags.
2020 Tokyo Olympics In July 2021, Algerian judo athlete Fethi Nourine withdrew from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics rather than face an Israeli competitor. The International Judo Federation (IJF) temporarily suspended Nourine and his coach.
2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup In March 2023, Indonesia was stripped of hosting rights for the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup after senior government officials stated they would not allow Israel's participation in Bali, where several matches had been scheduled to take place. The tournament was moved to Argentina, where the Israeli team joined the competition; Indonesia ended up not being in the tournament at all because their national team had not qualified on the field and lost their automatic host nation spot when FIFA pulled the event out of the country.
Ice Hockey Federation 2024 According to the announcement of the International Ice Hockey Federation, after the suspension of Belarus and Russia from the tournament, in February 2024, Israel was also removed from the tournament due to security reasons. To much outcry, they were then reinstated.
2024 Summer Olympics
Palestinian sports organizations and sports organizations from Arab countries have called for sanctions to be imposed against Israel and to prevent its participation in the 2024 Summer Olympics due to the Gaza war in the Gaza Strip. The calls from the organizations have been prompted by concerns about the war's impact on Palestinian athletes and sports facilities. These calls have come with comparisons to Russia and Belarus, who were banned following the former's invasion of Ukraine and whose participants were only allowed under the Individual Neutral Athletes label. In November 2023, Russia accused the IOC of having double standards by not sanctioning Israel due to its military actions in Gaza, as Palestine is also an IOC member. In January 2024, over 300 Palestinian sports clubs called for Israel to be barred from the 2024 Olympics after Israeli airstrikes had killed Palestine's Olympic football team coach, and damaged the headquarters of the Palestine Olympic Committee in Gaza.
American academic and former professional footballer Jules Boykoff described the double standards as "glaring" and questioned the IOC's treatment of Israel compared to Russia stating, "If taking over sports facilities are a red line, why silence as Israel converts Gaza's historic Yarmouk Stadium into an internment camp?". Boykoff has also stated that Israel's various settlements in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights "would be in clear violation [of the Olympic charter] in the same way as what Russia has done".
In February, 26 left-wing French lawmakers sent a letter to the IOC, urging sanctions against Israel, and calling for a ban on Israeli athletes competing under their flag and anthem, citing Israel's war crimes in the Gaza Strip. The lawmakers proposed that Israeli athletes participate neutrally, similar to Russian and Belarusian athletes, during the Games.
The IOC has cautioned athletes against boycotting or discriminating others, stating that immediate action will follow any discriminatory behavior such as the case of Algerian judoka Fethi Nourine, who received a ten-year ban following his refusal to fight Tohar Butbul, an Israeli in 2020. The IOC also stated that athletes are not to be held accountable for their government's actions. In March 2024, IOC President Thomas Bach made it clear there was no issue regarding Israel participating at the 2024 Summer Olympics and cautioned athletes against boycotts and discrimination.
Following the Israeli attacks on the Yarmouk stadium, the Palestinian Football Federation asked FIFA to condemn Israel. 200 Irish athletes also supported this action and demanded the exclusion of Israel from the Olympics. Also press conference held in Beirut under the title "Stop the genocide of the Palestinian people" aiming at preventing Israel from participating in the Paris Olympics.
The Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 After October 7 attacks in 2023, a letter in the European Parliament, and the dispute between Israeli and Irish basketball players led to forming a petition to ban Israel from international sports. The petition by the Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 called for the suspension of Israel from the international games and had attracted around 70,000 signatures as of February 16.
EuroBasket 2025 qualification At EuroBasket qualifier in February 2024, Ireland's national women's basketball players did not shake hands with their Israeli opponents due to "outrage over accusations of antisemitism".
Calls for Israel's suspension from FIFA