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It is a meeting that is the pride of the Palestinian leadership. The national football team of the Territories receives this Tuesday, October 15, Saudi Arabia in qualifying match for the World Cup 2022 and the Asian Cup 2023.
From our correspondent in Jerusalem,
This match has a particular flavor for the Palestinians, because it is the first time that the Saudi selection comes to play in the Palestinian territories. The Palestinian Football Association was admitted to FIFA, the International Federation, in 1998, four years after the creation of the Palestinian Authority.
But for ten years, the team could not play any of his home games. Fifa was worried about the security reasons in the territories and had not approved any Palestinian stadium. Even when she was receiving, the Palestinian team had to play their matches in third countries.
Football Diplomacy: #Palestine today faces Saudi Arabia at the Al-Ram stadium, near # Jerusalem and a few hundred meters from the separation wall, for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. is an event? # السعوديه_فلسطين pic.twitter.com/nntbSdMKQk
Marine Vlahovic (@MarineVlahovic) October 15, 2019► Listen on RFI: Palestine plays football
In 2008, FIFA allowed Palestinians to host international matches in the West Bank at Al Ram. Many regional teams, however, refused to travel to the Palestinian Territories because the borders are controlled by Israel and this requires requesting permission from the country to enter the West Bank.
This was the case of the Saudi selection: Riyadh has no diplomatic relations with the State of Israel. This time, the Saudis accepted the invitation of the Palestinian federation and that is the pride of the leaders of the Palestinian Authority, based in Ramallah, in the West Bank.
Huge billboards are visible in #Ramallah and its suburbs. As here, near the Israeli checkpoint of Bet El, at the entrance of the Palestinian Authority headquarters pic.twitter.com/FIqo9FASz2
Marine Vlahovic (@MarineVlahovic) October 15, 2019When the team arrived in Ramallah on Sunday, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told players in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which is home to the holy sites of Islam: " Your presence is a credit to to Palestine. And he will receive the team for a dinner after the match on Tuesday.
This is not the first time the Palestinian federation hosts an international match. After the authorization of 2008, the first team to come was the Jordan team. The country signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994. There was also Thailand for example, Palestine being part of the Asian federation.
Example: Saudi Arabia does not maintain diplomatic relations with Israel. His players are moving in a bus registered in Israel. By a sleight of hand, the back plate was covered with a Palestinian flag! pic.twitter.com/JUCeeeiL2r
Marine Vlahovic (@MarineVlahovic) October 15, 2019► Re-read: Historic football match between clubs in Gaza and the West Bank
Other Arab countries, which do not have diplomatic relations with Israel, have already come as well: Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain. Some refuse, like Lebanon or Egypt, which is the first Arab country to have recognized Israel. But received teams, Saudi Arabia is the most prestigious.
Palestinian officials also want to see it as a gesture of political support from the Riyadh authorities. But on the Israeli side, some voices, they, diminish the importance of this match. They point out that other Gulf teams have already come to the West Bank, as mentioned above.
This match also makes disaffected Palestinians. Some see it as a form of normalization of ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel. Especially in the current context: if the two countries have no official relations, ties have been strengthened in recent years, in the face of the common fear, Iran.
Example: Saudi Arabia does not maintain diplomatic relations with Israel. His players are moving in a bus registered in Israel. By a sleight of hand, the back plate was covered with a Palestinian flag! pic.twitter.com/JUCeeeiL2r
Marine Vlahovic (@MarineVlahovic) October 15, 2019The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), one of the Palestinian parties, denounces " the door open to the normalization of ties with the Zionist entity ", a qualifier for Israel. She calls to boycott the match. The Hamas Islamist movement, in power in Gaza, believes for its part that " the only winner of this approach is the Israeli occupation ".
But for the Ramallah authorities, this is not a step towards normalization. " The visit of the Saudi team is not a breach of boycott criteria as long as there is no contact during the stay with the State of occupation ", another qualifier for Israel, said the coordinator of the committee for the boycott of Israel.