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July 29 – FIFA and the AFC have refused Palestine the right to stage their home World Cup qualifying matches in September in the West Bank.
In a letter sent to Firas Abu Hilal, general secretary of the Palestine FA, FIFA said that “the current situation in Palestine does not allow FIFA/AFC to proceed with organising the matches at your home venue as we cannot take the risk of the match not taking place on the scheduled date for any reason, as there is no available FIFA window for rescheduling the match(es) at a later date.”
Of the five ‘home’ matches due to be played by Palestine, willingness to play in the West Bank had been expressed by Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait and Oman.
However, FIFA in the first point of its letter denying Palestine’s home hosting, referenced entry permits to the West Bank for visiting teams and match officials and that in the past they have not all be granted by Israel’s border forces.
Entry into the West Bank has long been a problem for Palestine football. Border crossing is governed by an accord between Palestine’s General Authority and Israel, but FIFA says “it cannot be guaranteed that the accord will be respected in all circumstances. We are aware if instances when some players were denied entry permits”.
It is a sentence, and public recognition by FIFA, that is clearly useful for the Palestinians in their application to have Israel suspended from international football.
That decision is expected in the weeks after the Olympics when Israel will have completed their participation in the men’s football event.
FIFA’s statutes outlaw interference or prevention of another nations ability to carry out football activities.
Any issues regarding the safety and security of matches in the West Bank are not mentioned until point four of the letter – it can reasonably have been expected that the biggest issues would be mentioned up front? FIFA said that while the Palestine Ministry of Interior Affairs said it could…
Source link : https://www.insideworldfootball.com/2024/07/29/fifa-closes-door-palestine-hosting-2026-qualifiers-might-not-good-israel/
Author : Paul Nicholson
Publish date : 2024-07-29 11:25:50
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