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Palestinians cry foul at FIFA decision

Some say FIFA is getting involved in the political game after it refused to take action on six Israeli soccer clubs playing in settlements of the occupied West Bank.
Chairman of the FIFA Monitoring Committee Israel-Palestine Tokyo Sexwale poses for photographers after a meeting of the FIFA Council at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland October 14, 2016. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann  - D1AEUGXWSFAA

The international soccer governing body FIFA announced Oct. 27 that it would allow six Israeli settlement soccer clubs located in the occupied Palestinian territories to continue playing in the Israeli leagues. The FIFA Council meeting in Kolkata, India, chose to preserve the status quo from among three options recommended by its own monitoring committee.

Six Israeli settlement clubs located in the occupied territories play regularly in the leagues of the Israeli Football Association (IFA) in contradiction to FIFA bylaws, since the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) league is also in the same location.

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