FIFA President Sepp Blatter tells reporters the Palestinian soccer association was holding its Israeli counterpart “hostage in a fight against our government.”
Blatter, who met Netanyahu earlier, says he is on a “mission of peace” to resolve tensions between the Israeli and Palestinian soccer federations in the hope of staving off a Palestinian bid to oust Israel from the world governing body.
As part of his vision of using sports as a bridge between people, Blatter has proposed holding a peace match in Zurich between the Israeli and Palestinian national teams.
Seated alongside Blatter, the president of the Israeli federation, Ofer Eini, immediately accepted the offer.
Palestinians say Israeli security restrictions are limiting movement of Palestinian players, visiting teams and soccer equipment and have put forward a proposal to suspend Israel from world soccer at the 209-nation FIFA meeting on May 29. Blatter opposes the suspension vote, saying Israel has not broken FIFA statutes in a political issue outside of soccer’s control.
— AP
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