From the Liveblog of
Thursday, March 24, 2022
Abraham Accords takes to the soccer field in Dubai next week
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleLazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
The United Arab Emirates will be hosting a day-long Abraham Accords festival at the Expo 2020 Dubai next week, the Emirati and US ambassadors to Israel announce.
The event – meant to be the first in a series of events hosted by Morocco, Bahrain and Israel over the coming months – will feature a soccer game between a combined Israeli, Emirati, Bahraini and Moroccan team and a squad made up of international soccer stars.
Israel national team players Tal Ben Haim, Salim Tuama and Maor Buzaglo will play on the “Abraham Accords Classics Team.”
The players from the other Abraham Accords nations also play on their respective national squads.
The “World Legends Team” will feature Brazil’s Kaká and Julio Cesar, Spain’s Carles Puyol and Michel Salgado, Argentina’s Javier Saviola, Nigeria’s Jay Jay Okocha, France’s Robert Pires, Bacary Sanga and Claude Makélélé, and Holland’s Clarence Seedorf.
Culture and Sport Minister Chili Tropper will represent Israel’s government at the event. He will be joined by his counterparts from the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco, as well at US envoy to Israel Tom Nides and the UAE Minister of Entrepreneurship Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi.
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