The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) postponed consideration of a Palestinian request to exclude Israel from international competitions until after the Paris Summer Games, saying that the two parties requested more time to present their defenses.

The Palestinian Football Association submitted a request to exclude Israel last May due to the war in Gaza, while FIFA ordered a legal evaluation of the situation and promised to consider the matter at an extraordinary meeting of its council this July.

FIFA said last night that the legal evaluation will be presented to its council on August 31st.

He said through his account on the “X” platform: “Based on the two parties’ request for more time to present their defenses, FIFA agreed to grant more time until the procedures are completed.”

The Paris Summer Olympics will be held between July 26 and August 11, while the men's soccer group stage competitions begin on the 24th of this month.

Israel has qualified for the men's soccer competition at the Paris Olympics, and will play in the group stage with Mali, Paraguay, and Japan.

The Palestinian Football Association said that it received FIFA’s letter regarding the postponement, on Thursday, and stated that it had asked FIFA for clarification on how to deal with the legal opinion.

As he explained in a statement: “FIFA’s letter did not specify the mechanism for dealing with the independent legal opinion when it is presented to the FIFA Council. The Palestinian Football Association has previously requested clarifications from FIFA several times regarding this matter.”