Palestine FA officials denied entry to Canada for Fifa pre-World Cup meeting

Officials from the Palestine Football Association have been denied entry to Canada ahead of a pre-World Cup meeting of Fifa’s member associations to be held in Vancouver this month.

Three officials have had applications for visas to enter Canada rejected, with the association subsequently asking Fifa to intervene with immigration authorities on their behalf. It comes amid concerns over the ability of some nations to travel freely to this summer’s 48-team tournament, which will be held across the USA, Canada and Mexico.

The annual Fifa Congress will take place in Vancouver on 30 April and is seen by officials as an unofficial kickoff to the World Cup, which begins on 11 June in Mexico City. Palestinian officials had also hoped, however, to use the event to address the issue of Israeli football clubs playing competitive matches in what the PFA argue is occupied Palestinian territory in the West Bank.

Following a submission by the PFA to Congress in 2024 on the issue, Fifa undertook to investigate claims of illegal matches in the occupied territories. The report, finally published in March of this year, saw Fifa rule it would “take no action” over the claims, resolving that “the final legal status of the West Bank remains an unresolved and highly complex matter under public international law”.

Palestine's starting XI line up for the national anthem before a 2022 World Cup qualifier against Saudi Arabia in the town of al-Ram in the Israeli occupied West Bank in 2019. Photograph: Hazem Bader/AFP/Getty Images

The PFA, through its president, Jibril Rajoub, had expected to respond to the report at the Vancouver Congress, with the possibility of a subsequent challenge being submitted to the court of arbitration for sport.

Rajoub is understood to be one of the three individuals denied a Canadian visa, alongside the PFA’s general secretary and head of legal affairs. A spokesperson for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) said they would not comment on individual visa cases but that “applications are considered on a case-by-case basis based on the information presented by the applicant. All clients who submit an application to IRCC are subject to comply with eligibility and admissibility requirements, as part of the process, regardless of their nationality. All applicants receive thorough correspondence from IRCC regarding the decision on their application.”