Complaint filed at ICC accuses FIFA and UEFA presidents of complicity in settlement football.

A legal complaint has been filed with the International Criminal Court accusing FIFA president Gianni Infantino and UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin of aiding and abetting alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity linked to football clubs based in Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory.The Irish Examiner reported the complaint was filed on Monday and was backed by Irish Sport for Palestine.The complaint centres on FIFA and UEFA permitting settlement-based clubs to take part in competitions organised under the Israel Football Association and to host matches on land described by the complainants as seized from Palestinians.Those behind the filing argue that continued participation by settlement clubs helps normalise and sustain settlements and therefore contributes to breaches of international law.They allege the conduct amounts to aiding and abetting the war crime of transferring a civilian population into occupied territory and the crime against humanity of apartheid under the Rome Statute.A December briefing linked to the organisers framed the case as a challenge to FIFA and UEFA’s territorial rules and statutes, arguing the governing bodies have continued to provide “financial and structural support” to settlement clubs through their competition systems.More recent material circulating around the filing said the communication was formally submitted to the ICC Office of the Prosecutor on 16 February 2026.The complaint adds a new legal route to a long-running football governance dispute over whether settlement clubs should be allowed to compete inside Israel’s domestic structures and, by extension, be eligible for wider football pathways.The ICC does not automatically open investigations following communications and there is no guarantee the court will take the matter forward.FIFA and UEFA have not published an official response to the ICC filing in the material referenced by the complainants and media reports.