Analysis

Saudi-Palestinian soccer match moved out of West Bank

Angry spat between PA and Riyadh ends with FIFA decision to delay Thursday's game and move it to different venue

By Avi Issacharoff
  • Avi Issacharoff, The Times of Israel's Middle East analyst, fills the same role for Walla, the leading portal in Israel. He is also a guest commentator on many different radio shows and current affairs programs on television. Until 2012, he was a reporter and commentator on Arab affairs for the Haaretz newspaper. He also lectures on modern Palestinian history at Tel Aviv University, and is currently writing a script for an action-drama series for the Israeli satellite Television "YES." Born in Jerusalem, he graduated cum laude from Ben Gurion University with a B.A. in Middle Eastern studies and then earned his M.A. from Tel Aviv University on the same subject, also cum laude. A fluent Arabic speaker, Avi was the Middle East Affairs correspondent for Israeli Public Radio covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the war in Iraq and the Arab countries between the years 2003-2006. Avi directed and edited short documentary films on Israeli television programs dealing with the Middle East. In 2002 he won the "best reporter" award for the "Israel Radio” for his coverage of the second intifada. In 2004, together with Amos Harel, he wrote "The Seventh War - How we won and why we lost the war with the Palestinians." A year later the book won an award from the Institute for Strategic Studies for containing the best research on security affairs in Israel. In 2008, Issacharoff and Harel published their second book, entitled "34 Days - The Story of the Second Lebanon War," which won the same prize.
 4 November 2015, 4:26 pm
Palestinian soccer federation head Jibril Rajoub gestures during the 65th FIFA Congress on May 29, 2015 in Zurich. (AFP Photo/Fabrice Coffrini)

The international soccer body FIFA announced Wednesday that a Saudi-Palestinian game that has been the cause of unprecedented tensions between the Palestinian Authority and Riyadh cannot take place in the West Bank as scheduled on Thursday, and must be moved to a different venue in Asia.

FIFA cited security reasons in its decision.

The announcement follows weeks of strained relations between the PA and Saudi Arabia over the location of the World Cup qualifier, with tensions reaching a fever pitch in recent days.

Under FIFA rules, the match should have taken place in Palestinian Authority territory, at the stadium in a-Ram north of Jerusalem. But Saudi officials have refused to allow their national soccer team to travel through Israel to the Palestinian town, saying it amounted to recognizing the Israeli occupation and normalizing the kingdom’s relations with the Jewish state.

Saudi soccer players also could not be seen passing through Israeli military checkpoints, the officials said.

But the Palestinians viewed holding the game in the West Bank as an act of recognition of their claims to statehood, a claim recognized by the UN General Assembly in 2012.

The Palestinian soccer federation, headed by senior Fatah official Jibril Rajoub, at first insisted on holding the game in a-Ram, but later, after intense pressure on PA President Mahmoud Abbas from Saudi officials, agreed to find creative solutions that would solve the problem for the Saudis.

One solution suggested by the Palestinians was to delay the game indefinitely. Another, developed after bilateral discussions, was to bring the Saudi team in Jordanian helicopters to the PA headquarters in Ramallah’s Muqata compound, and from there to proceed to the stadium in a-Ram without passing through Israeli checkpoints.

The Saudis rejected the latter plan and FIFA notified the parties that it would not agree to delay the game indefinitely.

On Tuesday, the Saudis announced they would simply not show up to the game, even at the cost of a forfeit under FIFA rules. Riyadh was said to be incensed at Palestinian intransigence on the issue, with Saudi television on Tuesday airing insulting videos about Rajoub, the Palestinian soccer chief.

But on Tuesday, a Palestinian news site claimed that Abbas was reconsidering his opposition to moving the game abroad, and that he has spoken with one of the crown princes of the Saudi monarchy on the subject.

Wednesday’s announcement by FIFA seems to be aimed at helping both sides resolve the disagreement by placing responsibility for moving the game on a third party.

The Saudis and Palestinians share a qualifying group with Muslim nations including Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates and East Timor, which are reportedly being looked at as potential hosts for the match, which has been rescheduled for Monday.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

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