The Lebanese Football Association (LFA) has postponed all domestic football following Israel’s attacks in the south of the country.

The decision was made in the wake of Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon, where at least 1,835 people were wounded and 558 people, including 50 children, were killed.

Four days prior to the LFA’s announcement postponing all domestic football, the Lebanese Premier League season had kicked off – the country’s top-flight men’s competition. Match day two of the 24/25 2024 season was scheduled to take place this weekend. Lebanon will also not host any international fixtures in the near future.

Domestic football is also on hold in Palestine amid Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza. With the men’s national team continuing to play its matches abroad – the nation's last home game in the occupied West Bank was in 2019.

Football is supposed to be a respite for everyone. But the escalation of violence in the Middle East has made that impossible for thousands of innocent people in the region. Scores of current and future Palestinian footballers and coaches will no longer be able to do what they love through no fault of their own. And the same is now happening in Lebanon.

Sending strength to those caught in the midst of the conflict and here’s hoping football returns as the oasis we all know it can be.