Former Russian Sports Minister Comments on FIFAs Potential Sanctions Against Israel Following Russian Precedent

The former Minister of Sports of Russia, **Pavel Kolobkov**, responded to news that the International Federation of Football (FIFA) is considering imposing penalties on Israel due to its ongoing military actions against Iran.

On July 18, it was reported that FIFA might allow foreign players in the Israeli league to suspend their contracts with local clubs without any financial compensation. Similar sanctions were previously applied to Russian clubs in 2022 following the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine.

«Regarding FIFA’s decision and its allowance for players to suspend contracts, we are awaiting a response from the Israeli Football Federation. It is likely there will also be future appeals to various courts.

I would like to remind everyone that when Russian football faced a similar scenario, the court rulings were not in our favor. It will be interesting to see how the authorities react in this situation,» Kolobkov stated on his [Telegram channel](https://t.me/kolobkovpavel/298).