March 18 – The Swiss Canton of Vaud has voted 53-74 against revoking UEFA’s tax exemption in the region. The motion was an attempt to bring pressure on UEFA to suspend the Israeli FA (IFA).
The motion first came before the canton’s Grand Council in January but the meeting did not manage to progress its agenda to the point of a vote, pushing the vote back to its next meeting.
The motion had been brought by a fringe group of MPs and, 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.
The resolution before Vaud MPs argued that Israel had 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 argued 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,” said the resolution.
Lobby group #GameOver said the Vaud vote is “another stain on Switzerland’s international reputation”.
“Swiss MPs acted no differently than their American counterparts in their protection of moneyed organisations and Israel, at the cost of their own taxpayers. Swiss citizens now know that they do not have real control over how their taxes are spent and that their democracy looks more similar to Trump’s America than a free and neutral state. We will continue to pursue UEFA in the Swiss federal courts and will imminently file a motion to compel the Swiss government to enforce international law on UEFA and suspend Israel,” said an indignant Ashish Prashar, Former Advisor to the Middle East Peace Envoy and Campaign Director for Game Over Israel.
With neither FIFA or UEFA keen to address the Palestinian issue within the regulations, and FIFA’s cosying up US president Donald Trump and, by implication, his Israeli alliance in the Middle East, one suspects any new motion is a case of the two Hopes – Bob and No.
Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]