The debate about the participation of Israel in international competitions reached the United Nations this week, when a group of experts asked FIFA and UEFA to remove the country after the UN recognised this month that the government of Benjamin Netanyahu is committing a genocide on Palestine.
Israel has recently participated in competitions such as EuroBasket or tennis' Davis Cup, as well as the famous case of Israel-Premier Tech, a private team that bears the country's name, that caused revolts during La Vuelta a España.
Next summer, United States co-hots FIFA World Cup, alongside Mexico and Canada. And the US government, ally of Israel, will not allow for the ban of the country. "We will absolutely work to fully stop any effort to attempt to ban Israel's national soccer team from the World Cup", said a US State Department spokesperson to BBC Sport.
Israel has not yet qualified for World Cup (none of the European countries have already) but is part of the World Cup qualifiers, and faces Norway on October 11 and Italy on October 14.
At the same time, UEFA will debate if they ban Israel's national teams and clubs (like Maccabi Tel Aviv, currently playing in Europa League) as early as next week. According to the Associated Press, a majority of UEFA's 20-member executive committee is expected to support any vote in favour of suspending Israeli teams from international play, two sources said.