Muscat: The soccer’s global governing body has pushed back its evaluation of the Palestinian Football Association’s (PFA) appeal to October.

The PFA’s bid to exclude Israel from international play, initially submitted in May, had prompted FIFA to conduct an urgent legal review. Despite promising to address the matter at a special council meeting in July, FIFA later rescheduled the review to August 31. Now, the Zurich-based organization has delayed the evaluation until its next council meeting in October.

FIFA announced it has received an independent legal assessment of the PFA’s claims and will forward this assessment to its council for further consideration. Details about the legal review or the exact date of the October meeting remain unclear.

The Palestinian Football Association, citing the impact of the Gaza conflict on football, reported that 92 players had been killed, football infrastructure was in ruins, and national league activities had been halted. They have urged FIFA to impose sanctions on Israeli teams, including the national squad