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Football

Israel ban from UEFA competition and Aston Villa knock-on effect explained: report

Members of UEFA’s executive committee are reportedly in favour of suspending Israel from UEFA competitions, including the Europa League, according to the Associated Press.

The executive committee is the main decision-making body of UEFA and responsible for the organisation’s governance. On the panel sits UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin and 19 other elected members.

They include Paris Saint-Germain owner Nasser Al-Khelaifi, former FA chair Debbie Hewitt, Champions League winner Dejan Savićević, Israeli FA president Moshe Zuares and ex-Borussia Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke.

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Israel World Cup hopes dashed as UEFA set to vote on suspension

A majority of the 20-strong committee is expected to support any vote favouring a suspension of Israeli teams from international competition.

FIFA are unlikely to follow suit given the organisation’s close links to the administration of Donald Trump’s United States government and the 79-year-old’s vocal opposition to sporting sanctions against Israel.

Donald Trumo (L) and Gianni Infantino (R) at the FIFA Club World Cup Final

Donald Trumo (L) and Gianni Infantino (R) at the FIFA Club World Cup Final (Image credit: Getty Images)

However, eight UEFA members do sit on FIFA’s ruling committee, which could ultimately decide matters if a similar issue is brought to a vote when the council meets in Zürich next week.

Calls to ban Israel from international sports including football are on the increase from those in power.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has urged UEFA to impose a similar penalty on Israel to the one handed down to Russia following their 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

It follows growing international concern over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza as a result of Israeli military operations in the area and their fight against Hamas.

A close-up of the Europa League trophy

A close-up of the Europa League trophy (Image credit: Alamy)

Additionally, football executives in Italy and Norway have expressed their reservations about facing Israeli teams in competition. The two countries are scheduled to face Israel in FIFA World Cup qualifying next month.

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A UEFA ban would put an end to Israel’s hopes of qualifying for next summer’s World Cup as the team would not be able to fulfil their remaining fixtures. The country has made one prior appearance at the Finals in 1970 and currently sits third in UEFA’s Group I.

Russian teams are yet to be reinstated to FIFA and UEFA competition since their suspension.

The Times claims ‘several European clubs [have] asked UEFA if there [is] any way they could avoid playing Israeli opponents’, while Greek side PAOK Thessaloniki’s supporters staged protests ahead of their Europa League fixture with Maccabi Tel Aviv.

PAOK fans protest Maccabi Tel Aviv's participation in the Europa League

PAOK fans protest Maccabi Tel Aviv’s participation in the Europa League (Image credit: Getty Images)

What will happen to Aston Villa’s Europa League fixture against Maccabi Tel Aviv?

Aston Villa are set to play Maccabi in the same competition later this year, although this fixture is now in doubt with UEFA expected to vote on the suspension of Israeli teams before November 6.

Article 29.03 of UEFA’s Europa League regulations states: “If a club is disqualified or for any reason withdraws from the competition before all its matches in the league phase have been played, the results of all its matches played until that moment remain valid.

“A calculation of points will need to take place upon completion of the league phase to take the cancelled matches into account. Any club that has not been able to play its scheduled match against a disqualified/withdrawn club is awarded the average number of points earned by all clubs in its same seeding pot against the clubs in the same pot as that disqualified/withdrawn club in home matches, if the affected club was due to play at home, or in away matches if the affected club was due to play away.

“The league phase points of all matches that have been played, including the points obtained by clubs in matches involving the disqualified/withdrawn club before their disqualification/withdrawal are not adjusted in any way, and all taken into account for the average points calculation.”

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Cricket

USA Cricket: ICC suspends membership with immediate effect

It also highlighted unspecified “significant actions that caused reputational damage to cricket in the United States and around the world”.

NGB status is required for a sport to take place at the Olympics, where cricket is due to return after a 128-year absence.

USA Cricket was previously placed “on notice” at the 2024 ICC annual general meeting (AGM) for “non-compliance with membership criteria” and given 12 months to fix the issues.

Following July’s AGM, the governing body confirmed USA Cricket remained on notice, with the caveat that the ICC board “reserves the right to take such actions as it deems appropriate”.

At the time, BBC Sport had seen evidence that USA Cricket had addressed five of the eight issues flagged last year relating to governance, finance and administration.

The US have been an associate member of the ICC since 1965 and featured at the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup, reaching the Super 8 stage to earn automatic qualification for the 2026 tournament.

USA Cricket chief executive Johnathan Atkeison told BBC Sport in a statement: “We were informed by the ICC of the decision to suspend USA Cricket.

“Obviously, we are disappointed, but we are awaiting further information from them regarding the conditions for reinstatement so that we can evaluate the path forward.”

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