The President of the Palestinian Football Association, Jibril Rajoub, rejected Gianni Infantino's invitation to stand alongside the Vice President of the Israeli Federation, Bassem Sheikh Suleiman, in a tense moment during the FIFA General Assembly meeting on Thursday.
Published on: 01/05/2026 - 08:18 Last updated: 01/05/2026 - 10:43
Gabriel Rajoub, President of the Palestinian Football Association, ignored the Vice President of the Israeli Federation, Bassem Sheikh Suleiman, in a tense moment during the FIFA General Assembly meeting on Thursday.
Gabriel Rajoub refuses to shake hands with the representative of the Israeli Football Association, despite the insistence of the FIFA President
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“Whitewashing their fascism and genocide.”
When asked what Rajoub said upon his refusal, Vice President of the Palestinian Football Association, Susan Shalabi, who was present in the hall, said, “I cannot shake hands with someone brought by the Israelis to whitewash their fascism and genocide! We are suffering.”
Israel denies committing genocide in Gaza. After that, Infantino took to the podium and said, “We will work together, President Rajoub and Vice President Suleiman. Let us work together to give hope to children. These are complex issues.”
In statements after the end of the conference, Susan Shalabi said that Infantino’s attempt to push Suleiman and Rajoub to shake hands with each other showed a lack of appreciation for the speech of the President of the Palestinian Federation, in which he renewed his demand that Israeli clubs not be allowed to establish their teams in settlements in the West Bank.
She added, "Putting him in a position where he is asked to shake hands with the other after everything that was said empties the speech delivered by General (Rajoub) of its entire content." She continued, "He spent about 15 minutes trying to explain the importance of the rules, and how this could easily turn into a precedent in which the rights of member associations are brazenly violated, and then the matter is folded as if nothing had happened. It was absurd."
"Policy of double standards"
Rajoub said, “For my part, I still respect and adhere to legal procedures, but I believe that the time has come to recognize the necessity of imposing sanctions on Israel. The policy of double standards must stop.”
"I refused to shake hands. Sports remain sports, and for me this principle must be respected. But when the other party represents someone who is considered a criminal like Bibi (Benjamin Netanyahu), and speaks on his behalf as if Bibi were Mother Teresa, how can I shake hands with a man like this or take a picture with him?" "Palestinian."
France 24/Reuters
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