Vaud canton rejects resolution to hold UEFA accountable for complicity in Israeli crimes

LAUSANNE: Swiss parliamentarians in the canton of Vaud voted 53-74 on Tuesday night to allow tax credits to UEFA to continue.

The Game Over Israel campaign has called the decision not to sanction the administrative and governing body for football in Europe “a stain on the country’s international reputation.”

The resolution called for UEFA to be held accountable for “complicity in Israeli crime.”

Ashish Prashar, former advisor to the Middle East Peace Envoy and campaign director for Game Over Israel, said: “In a scandalous development today, Swiss lawmakers in the canton of Vaud with a vote of 53-74 rejected a resolution that would have held UEFA accountable for its complicity in Israeli regime crimes.

“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.”   

Game Over Israel was launched on Sept. 16, 2025 with a billboard in Times Square that called on the football federations to boycott Israel. The campaign was backed by a coalition of organizers, activists, humanitarians, football fans and several high-profile former players.

The campaign is advised by Dr. Ghassan Abu Sittah, British-Palestinian plastic surgeon and founder of the Ghassan Abu Sittah Children’s Fund, Abed Ayoub, director of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Richard Falk, former UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied and President of the Gaza Tribunal, and Craig Mokhiber, former UN human rights official.

It is also partnered with a growing list of organizations, including ADC, Athletes 4 Peace, CODEPINK, The Gaza Tribunal, Health Workers 4 Palestine, the Hind Rajab Foundation, and Tech for Palestine.