Live Update 
From the Liveblog of
Monday, August 18, 2014
From the Liveblog of
Monday, August 18, 2014
Egypt footballer declines peace match invite because of Israeli
An Egyptian media report says that one of its national players has declined playing in the Interreligious Match for Peace, an all star soccer match initiated by the pope to promote peace between Israelis and Palestinians, because Israeli national Yossi Benayoun will be attending.
According to Al-Ahram, Mohamed Abou-Treika’s agent cited “personal business” as the reason for declining the invite to play in Rome in September’s friendly match.
The paper says, however, that “it’s believed that the reason why Abou-Treika — widely thought to be a supporter of the outlawed Egyptian Islamic group the Muslim Brotherhood — will not play is the presence of ex-Liverpool and Chelsea Israeli midfielder Yossi Benayoun.”
