FIFA defers its judgment on the Palestinian plea to suspend Israel.

FIFA has postponed a decision on a Palestinian plea to suspend Israel until its council meeting on Thursday.

Rather than providing an early ruling, FIFA announced the formation of a committee probe to influence its final decision.

"The FIFA Council has implemented due diligence on this very sensitive matter and, based on a thorough assessment, we have followed the advice of the independent experts," said FIFA president Gianni Infantino in a statement.

The Palestinian Football Association petitioned FIFA for Israel's ban, claiming abuses of Palestinian athletes' rights and restrictions enforced in Israeli-controlled territory.