According to a report Monday in the British newspaper The Guardian, FIFA is planning to schedule a particularly symbolic and surprising opening match between the children’s national teams of Israel and Palestine, under age 15, as part of a new tournament expected to begin this September in the United States.
The new tournament, which FIFA announced last December, is not defined as an official World Cup for this age group. The matches are expected to be shorter, played on smaller fields and with reduced lineups of seven to nine players. Still, the tournament will be open to all 211 FIFA member associations.
Russia, which remains suspended from all official senior national-team activity since its invasion of Ukraine, has also been approved to take part in the children’s tournament. The likely host city is Miami, where FIFA has extensive offices.
According to The Guardian, FIFA President Gianni Infantino is determined to use soccer as a vehicle for promoting peace and global unity. The report noted that the plan comes after an embarrassing moment for Infantino in April, when an attempt to arrange a handshake between Palestinian and Israeli delegates at FIFA’s congress in Vancouver failed.
Jibril Rajoub, president of the Palestinian Football Association, refused to stand alongside Israel Football Association Vice President Basim Sheikh Suliman, despite repeated appeals from Infantino near the end of FIFA’s 76th congress.
The incident, however, does not appear to have deterred Infantino from trying to play peacemaker. According to the report, the proposal to open the under-15 tournament with a match between Israel and Palestine is now under active consideration.
FIFA sources rejected the suggestion that such an initiative would amount to dangerous interference in Israeli-Palestinian politics, especially after the events in Vancouver. Infantino is understood to be central to the initiative and referred to the under-15 tournament after Rajoub declined to shake Suliman’s hand.
“Let me thank the two representatives from Israel and from Palestine, who have the same rights, duties and obligations, who are members of Fifa,” Infantino said. “We will work together, let’s work together to give hope to the children, let’s work together for that.
“We have a beautiful under-15 tournament coming up, where we will invite all 211 countries to participate, all the children of the world, let’s do it for that. Let’s work together. You have my commitment, you have the support of the whole room.”
One FIFA source told The Guardian that a handshake in Vancouver had been agreed in advance, but that Rajoub changed his mind during the speeches.
The Palestinian delegation was unrepentant after the incident. Palestinian FA Vice President Susan Shalabi told Reuters: “I cannot shake the hand of someone the Israelis have brought to whitewash their fascism and genocide. We are suffering.”
A source at the Israel Football Association told The Athletic: “Chairman Shino Zuaretz is sticking to what he has said several times at the FIFA Congress and elsewhere. We are more than open to the possibility of using soccer as a tool for normalization and peace. Our hand is always extended toward a better future, and we hope to find a partner on the other side.”