European soccer body UEFA moves toward vote to suspend Israel

GENEVA (AP) — European soccer body UEFA is moving toward a vote to suspend its member federation Israel over the war in Gaza, people familiar with the proposal told The Associated Press on Thursday.

A majority of UEFA’s 20-member executive committee is expected to support any vote in favor of suspending Israeli teams from international play, two sources told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

Such a step would prevent Israeli national and club teams from playing in international competitions including next year's World Cup. Israel's men's team is set to resume its World Cup qualifying campaign in two weeks with away games against Norway and Italy.

It is unclear whether world soccer body FIFA will support excluding Israel given the close relations between FIFA’s leader, Gianni Infantino, and President Donald Trump.

The Trump administration’s support to secure the World Cup, and process visas for players, officials and potentially hundreds of thousands of visiting fans, is seen as key to FIFA delivering a successful tournament in the U.S., Canada and Mexico next year.

A State Department spokesperson said it will work to stop any efforts that tried to ban Israel’s team from the World Cup.

FIFA’s ruling council is scheduled to meet in Zurich next week. The 37-member council includes eight from UEFA.

FIFA declined to comment on Thursday. Infantino is based this week at FIFA's satellite office in Trump Tower in Manhattan while attending events on the fringes of the United Nations General Assembly.

Calls to exclude Israel from soccer and other sports have increased in recent weeks amid an outcry over the humanitarian toll of its military campaign in Gaza. Last week Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Israel should be banned from international sports events just like Russia, which was sidelined after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Earlier this week seven independent experts working with the U.N. Human Rights Council urged FIFA and UEFA to suspend Israel from international competitions.

UEFA and its president Aleksander Ceferin signaled a tougher view on Israel last month when banners saying “Stop Killing Children. Stop Killing Civilians” were placed on the field in front of the Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham teams ahead of the Super Cup game in Udine, Italy.

The discussion about whether to ban Israel from international sports comes as Israel faces increasing criticism and isolation over its military campaign, launched in response to the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023.

Last week, Israel was accused of committing genocide in Gaza by an inquiry commission commissioned by the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Israel’s sports and culture minister, Miki Zohar, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the head of Israel’s soccer federation, Moshe Zuares, have been working “intensively behind the scenes” to block efforts to oust Israel from UEFA, Zohar's office said Thursday. “The right step now is to act responsibly with the professionals and not to make statements, and this is how all the parties involved in the efforts are acting. We will address this later.”

The decision to ban Russia in 2022 was partly driven by a swath of UEFA member federations refusing to play scheduled games against Russian opponents. No national or club team in Europe has so far refused to play an Israeli opponent, though soccer leaders in Norway and Italy have publicly expressed their unease in recent weeks.

The Norwegian soccer federation also pledged to give its profits from ticket sales for the Oct. 11 game in Oslo to humanitarian work in Gaza by Doctors Without Borders.

Both Italy’s Gabriele Gravina and Lise Klaveness of Norway are elected members of the UEFA executive committee which could vote on suspending Israel. Zuares, the Israeli soccer federation president, is also on the panel as is Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, a member of the Qatari government who is president of European champion Paris Saint-Germain.

Israel enraged Qatar, an influential U.S. ally that has been a key mediator throughout the war, with a Sept. 9 airstrike targeting Hamas leaders in Doha, the Qatari capital.

At the Champions League final in May, PSG fans displayed a banner saying “Stop Genocide in Gaza” in French. UEFA did not open a disciplinary case despite having rules against political messaging inside stadiums.

On Wednesday evening in Greece, Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv played PAOK in the UEFA-organized Europa League. There were pro-Palestinian protests outside the stadium in Thessaloniki and a “Stop Genocide” banner displayed inside.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

FILE - The players line up before the UEFA Super Cup soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham Hotspur in Udine, Italy, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos, File)

FILE - Celtic fans lift a protest banner about Israel during the Champions League playoff first leg soccer match between Glasgow Celtic and Bayern Munich at the Celtic Park Stadium in Glasgow, Scotland, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell, File)

Pro-Palestinian protesters, most of them PAOK fans, gather ahead of a Europa League soccer match between PAOK and Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv in the port city of Thessaloniki, northern Greece, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)

President of the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) Gianni Infantino speaks at the Global Citizen Awards ceremony, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

PAOK's fans display a banner that reads "stop genocide" during the Europa League soccer match between PAOK and Maccabi Tel Aviv at Toumpa stadium, in Thessaloniki, Greece, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)

SHEFFIELD, England (AP) — It was Georgia's day at the European figure skating championships Thursday.

Skaters representing the former Soviet nation won the pairs gold medal and took the lead in the men's event at the championships, a key warmup for next month's Winter Olympics.

Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava recovered from a fall to win their first European title after silver in 2024 and bronze last year.

The Georgians had the lead from Wednesday's short program and, even though Metelkina fell on a triple toeloop, the rest of their free skate was strong to score 139.80 for a total 215.76.

The two skaters laid on their backs on the ice in relief after finishing their free skate, as Berulava pumped his fists and made a snow angel gesture.

The title defense of Germany's Minerva Hase and Nikita Volodin ended with an erratic free skate. Hase fell on a throw triple loop and tumbled to the ice again when Volodin tried to lower her down from their final lift.

Hase seemed in pain as she waited for the scores, and then stunned to see that she and Volodin had scored enough to stay ahead overall of third-place Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko of Hungary, 203.87 to 202.56.

Georgian figure skater Nika Egadze edged ahead of two Estonian brothers to take the lead in the men's short program.

Egadze scored 91.28 points for the lead after starting his program with a bang, following up a quadruple salchow-triple toeloop combination with a quad toeloop.

That was enough to beat last year's silver medalist Aleksandr Selevko on 88.71 and his younger brother Mihhail on 88.28. Defending champion Lukas Britschgi was sixth for Switzerland.

Estonia is on track for more medals as Niina Petrokina leads the women's event ahead of Friday's free skate.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympics

Estonia's Aleksandr Selevko competes during the Men's Short Program on day two of the ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Sheffield, Thursday, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2026. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)

Georgia's Nika Egadze competes during the Men's Short Program on day two of the ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Sheffield, Thursday, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2026. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)

Germany's Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin compete during the Pairs Free Skating on day two of the ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Sheffield, England, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)

Georgia's Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava compete during the Pairs Free Skating on day two of the ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Sheffield, England, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)

Georgia's Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava compete during the Pairs Free Skating on day two of the ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Sheffield, England, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)