FIFA is reportedly considering staging a football match between the Palestinian and Israeli U-15 national teams ahead of a global youth football festival in the United States in September, a proposal likely to spark outrage among Palestinian football officials and campaigners who have spent years calling for Israel's suspension from international football.
The reported plan, put forward by FIFA President Gianni Infantino , comes as Israel continues to face accusations of war crimes in Gaza, where hundreds of footballers have been killed and much of the territory's sporting infrastructure has been destroyed during nearly three years of war.
The match would reportedly serve as the curtain-raiser for FIFA's new youth festival, which will bring together boys and girls from all 211 member associations. The event will include teams from across the world, including Russia, which remains barred from senior international football competitions over its invasion of Ukraine .
The New Arab has contacted the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) for comment on the proposal.
The reported initiative is the latest attempt by Infantino to promote football as a tool for dialogue and coexistence. However, it is likely to face scrutiny from many who believe FIFA has repeatedly failed to hold Israel accountable despite mounting evidence of the devastating impact of the war on Palestinian sport .
For years, the PFA has urged FIFA to suspend Israel from international competition, citing violations of international law, attacks on Palestinian athletes and sports facilities, and the participation of Israeli clubs based in settlements in the occupied West Bank. Those calls have intensified since the start of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023.
At least 467 footballers have been killed during the war, while hundreds of sports facilities have been damaged or destroyed, according to figures cited by Palestinian football authorities.
Among those killed was former Palestine international Suleiman al-Obeid , widely known as the "Palestinian Pele", who was shot dead in Khan Younis in August 2025 while waiting for humanitarian aid.
His death prompted international condemnation and renewed calls for FIFA to take action against Israel.
At least 949 athletes have been killed since October 2023, the Palestinian Football Association says, while dozens more have been detained or remain missing.
Football in the Palestinian territories has largely come to a standstill because of the war, disrupting leagues, training programmes and players' careers. Players have spoken of their grief and frustration over the uncertainty surrounding the future of the sport and whether they will ever be able to return to competitive football.
Despite repeated submissions from the PFA and growing calls from athletes, supporters and politicians around the world, FIFA has so far declined to suspend Israel.
The issue came to the fore again at FIFA's congress in Vancouver in April, when PFA President Jibril Rajoub refused a proposed photograph opportunity with Israeli football officials, declaring: "We are oppressed."
Infantino has defended FIFA's position by arguing that football's governing body cannot solve geopolitical conflicts and should instead seek to use sport to bring people together.
For many Palestinians, however, the prospect of a symbolic youth match between Palestinian and Israeli children risks appearing disconnected from the reality facing football in Gaza, where stadiums lie in ruins and generations of athletes have seen their careers cut short by war.