In many international competitions, where Israel does take part, such as the Olympic Games, some Arab and Muslim competitors avoid competing against Israelis.
[7] The 1976 Chess Olympiad was held in the Israeli city of Haifa, which generated controversy, since several countries, such as the Soviet Union and the Arab nations, did not recognize the state of Israel.
[16] The anthem had previously been played in Abu Dhabi in October 2018, after Israeli judoka Sagi Muki won the gold medal in the Judo Grand Competition.
At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Egypt's Islam El Shehaby provoked outrage after refusing to shake hands with Israeli judoka, Or Sasson.
[23] In March 2023, Indonesia was stripped of hosting rights for the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup after senior government officials stated they would not allow Israel's participation in Bali, where several matches had been scheduled to take place.
[26] At EuroBasket qualifier on 2024 February, Ireland's national womens' basketball players did not shake hands with their Israeli opponents due to "outrage over accusations of antisemitism".
[27] On 17 May 2024, FIFA announced that they would hold a special council meeting on 20 July to determine if the Israel Football Association would be suspended from international competitions.
[29] On 3 October 2024, FIFA again delayed the decision of suspension, citing that they will first investigate the allegations of discrimination raised by the Palestine Football Association.
[30][31] These delays in regards to suspension of Israel came in contrast to FIFA's quick decision to suspend Russia in the light of Russian invasion of Ukraine.
[33][18] These calls have come with comparisons to Russia and Belarus, who were banned following the former's invasion of Ukraine and whose participants were only allowed under the Individual Neutral Athletes label.
[35] American academic and former professional soccer player Jules Boykoff described the double standards as "glaring" and questioned the IOC's treatment of Israel compared to Russia stating, "If taking over sports facilities are a red line, why silence as Israel converts Gaza’s historic Yarmouk Stadium into an internment camp?".
[36] Boykoff has also stated that Israel's various settlements in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights "would be in clear violation [of the Olympic charter] in the same way as what Russia has done".
[37] In February, 26 left-wing French lawmakers sent a letter to the IOC, urging sanctions against Israel, and calling for a ban on Israeli athletes competing under their flag and anthem.
[40] In March 2024, IOC President Thomas Bach made it clear there was no issue regarding Israel participating at the 2024 Summer Olympics and cautioned athletes against boycotts and discrimination.
[25] Also press conference held in Beirut under the title "Stop the genocide of the Palestinian people" aiming at preventing Israel from participating in the Paris Olympics.
[48] In August 2023, Iranian weightlifter Mostafa Rajai was banned to compete for life by his federation, after talking to, shaking hands and taking a picture with Israeli Maksim Svirsky during a medal awarding ceremony at the World Masters Championship in Wieliczka, Poland.
Israel's Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman responded to the cancellation of the match by calling the BDS campaign "a pack of anti-Semitic terrorist supporters" and claimed that the Argentines couldn't "withstand the pressure of the Israeli-hating inciters".
[50][51]In early November 2019, the BDS movement sought the cancellation of a soccer match between the national teams of Argentina and Uruguay scheduled to be held in Tel Aviv, Israel.