January 22 – The Swiss Canton of Vaud that had a motion before its Tuesday night Grand Council meeting calling for the revoking of UEFA’s tax exemption in the region, did not manage to progress its meeting agenda to the point of a vote. The motion is an attempt to bring pressure on UEFA to suspend the Israeli FA (IFA).
With the Vaud meeting running long, a number of agenda items at the end of the schedule were carried over to the next Vaud meeting of MPs next Tuesday.
The motion that was brought by a fringe group of MPs, if passed, would then progress to the federal government where it would require a double majority – a majority of Cantons and votes – to be passed. It seem unlikely that the motion would win universal support.
The resolution before Vaud MPs argues that Israel has broken an International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling that it is illegally occupying Palestinian land in the West Bank and the IFA is illegally supporting football teams in the West Bank that play in the Israeli leagues. Israel is a member of UEFA who benefit from tax advantages in Switzerland. Therefore, by UEFA not paying tax in Switzerland, Swiss citizens in Vaud are funding the IFA’s illegal activities.
The wording of the resolution argues that a condition of the tax exemption is that UEFA, and other sports organisations, play an important role in promoting peace and combating racism and discrimination.
“UEFA has long placed these concerns at the heart of its decisions. Its commitment to peace, for example, was among the motivations cited in support of sanctions adopted by the organisation following Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. However, it is clear that this objective is not being pursued today,” says the resolution.
“While the State of Israel has announced its intention to suspend access to Gaza for more than thirty international NGOs, the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate. Israel also approved the creation of 19 new settlements at the end of December. By persisting in its failure to react and continuing to recognise clubs located in illegally occupied territories, UEFA is sending a signal that it condones these actions. Football deserves better than that,” said Théophile Schenker, Member of the Cantonal Parliament of Canton Vaud.
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