A growing international movement is calling time on Israel’s participation in world soccer. Launched this week under the banner #GameOverIsrael, the campaign brings together human rights groups, fan associations, athletes, celebrities, and political figures across Europe and beyond.
The launch of the campaign has also drawn sharp criticism in a move that many see as a blatant attempt to politicize sport and isolate the Jewish state.
The initiative was unveiled with a Times Square billboard accusing Israel of “genocide” and calling for FIFA and UEFA to suspend its teams, mimicking the sanctions imposed on Russia in 2022. Organizers say they plan coordinated demonstrations in nine European countries, including Belgium, England, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Scotland, and Spain.
On their website – www.gameoverisrael.com – they called for the boycott of Israel’s National Team and of any Israeli clubs, as well as a ban on any Israeli players.
Campaign manager Ashish Prashar, a political strategist, argued that federations should take action against Israel, claiming: “Given the outrage at what is happening in Gaza, how can we allow those responsible – or complicit – to step foot on the pitches we love?”
'We are living through a dark moment in history,' Craig Mokhiber says
His comments were echoed by Craig Mokhiber, a former UN human rights official, who declared: “We are living through a dark moment in history… inaction is complicity. Sport is a powerful social force – and football can be a channel for action. Boycott Israel.”
Such rhetoric, however, is being denounced as another example of the double standards Israel has faced for decades in international sport.
Since its creation, Israel has been forced to fight for its place on the global stage. In soccer, it was expelled from the Asian Football Confederation in 1974 after pressure from Arab states, leaving it without a regional home until joining UEFA in the 1990s. Israeli athletes are regularly boycotted in competitions by athletes from countries like Iran, Algeria, and Kuwait, who refuse to take the mat or the court rather than face an Israeli opponent.
Just last year, the International Judo Federation suspended Iran after years of evidence that its athletes were ordered to deliberately forfeit matches to avoid competing against Israelis.
The problem extends beyond refusals to play. Jewish and Israeli athletes continue to face rising antisemitism around the world. During the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Algerian judoka Fethi Nourine was banned for 10 years for withdrawing from the Games to avoid an Israeli opponent. Israeli soccer clubs playing in Europe are often met with hostile protests, chants of “Free Palestine” mixed with antisemitic abuse, and security concerns that force matches to be played under heavy police guard.
At youth tournaments across Europe, Jewish players have reported slurs and hostility simply for wearing a Magen David or representing an Israeli team.
Critics of the Game Over Israel campaign note that while it amplifies accusations against Israel, it ignores Hamas’s massacre of more than 1,200 Israelis on October 7, 2023, and the group’s use of schools, hospitals, and even sports facilities in Gaza to launch attacks and hide weapons. They argue that rather than seeking peace, the campaign weaponizes sport to delegitimize Israel’s very existence.
The initiative has enlisted celebrity backers such as Eric Cantona and Gary Lineker, along with Irish actor Liam Cunningham, who said: “Ireland should have nothing to do with Israeli teams or players. That’s how to show solidarity.”
A Shamrock Rovers fan group issued a similar demand. Yet supporters of Israel warn that this rhetoric not only distorts the role of sport but also fuels antisemitism across Europe, where Jewish athletes and fans have increasingly been targeted amid rising tensions.
While organizers highlight casualties and destruction in Gaza, they overlook the countless Israeli athletes who have themselves been victims of terrorism – from the murder of 11 Israelis at the 1972 Munich Olympics, to recent rocket attacks disrupting youth leagues and community matches. Nor do they acknowledge that Israeli sports teams are uniquely diverse, with Jewish, Muslim, Christian, and Druze players competing together and representing the country side by side.
Some soccer institutions have entertained the campaign’s message. The Italian Football Coaches’ Association has called for Israel’s suspension, and Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has introduced measures against Israel. But in other places, there has been resistance. Norway’s federation, for example, while donating ticket revenue from a World Cup qualifier to humanitarian relief, has rejected calls to boycott Israel outright.
Richard Falk, president of the Gaza Tribunal, claimed: “Israel has for many years used culture and sport to whitewash its violations of international law and human rights.”
Yet for many Israelis and their supporters, it is precisely this type of accusation that exposes the campaign’s true aim: not to protect human rights, but to single out Israel in ways no other country is treated.
For Israel’s defenders, the Game Over Israel campaign is not about soccer at all – it is part of a broader, decades-long effort to erase the Jewish state from international arenas.
As one Israeli sports commentator put it: “Calls to ban Israel from football are not about fair play or human rights. They are about delegitimizing a nation and its people. That is why Israel must continue to play – and to win.”