Uefa must ban Israel after UN genocide report, say top legal scholars

A group of eminent international lawyers and human rights experts on Thursday called on Uefa to impose an “immediate and complete ban” on Israeli football to fulfil its legal obligation to act in the face of the Gaza genocide.

In the letter to the president of European football's governing body, Aleksander Ceferin, the authors ground their appeal in the UN report released last month that concluded Israel has committed and is committing genocide in Gaza.

The letter also cited the advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice in July 2024, which confirmed the illegality of Israel's occupation and the duties of third states not to recognise it. 

“A ban is imperative in response to the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry’s report … which provides irrefutable evidence that Israeli authorities have committed genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, all in violation of peremptory norms of international law,” the letter said. 

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