"Now there is a ceasefire, everyone should be happy about that. Everyone should support that process,"
"Those who have responsibilities to broker and to do these steps, they have done that, and now everyone else should support it."
"It goes beyond football, but it includes football as well."
FIFA president Gianni Infantino called for football to support efforts towards peace in the Middle East ahead of Israel's two World Cup qualifiers against Norway and Italy. United States president Donald Trump reported that the first phase of an Israel-Hamas peace plan for Gaza has been agreed, though the plan has not been officially ratified by the Israeli government. Infantino expressed hope that the ceasefire and peace efforts will cool tensions surrounding Israel's away match in Norway and the fixture in Udine against Italy. Two weeks earlier there had been a real prospect of Israel being suspended by UEFA, and discussions around an emergency executive committee meeting had taken place. Norway's football federation president Lise Klaveness had called for Israel's suspension, but the possibility of a US-, Qatar- and Egypt-brokered peace has reduced calls to suspend Israel. Security concerns remain for the match in Udine amid recent Italian worker strikes protesting Israel's attacks on Gaza.
Read at ESPN.com
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