Saudis, Palestinians to play soccer qualifier in Ramallah
After Riyadh postponed second leg of 2018 World Cup qualifier citing 'exceptional circumstances,' national teams to compete in West Bank, FIFA decides
The Saudi Arabia soccer team will play against the Palestinian national squad in Ramallah on November 5, a FIFA panel decided Wednesday, overruling protestations from Riyadh.
The international soccer organization’s newly appointed bureau unanimously approved holding the match, the second leg of a 2018 World Cup Asian qualifier, in the West Bank city.
The first match was played in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in June. The Saudis won 3-2. The second match was originally scheduled for October 13, but was postponed after the Saudi Arabian Football Federation said its team couldn’t play in the Palestinian territories.
The Palestinian delegation assured the Saudis that it and a FIFA security officer would guarantee that the game would proceed without a hitch.
Saudi Arabia on September 23 demanded that the second match be played on neutral ground. That demand was accepted by the World Cup 2018 organizing committee, chaired by UEFA president Michel Platini.
But the Palestinian Federation refused to accept, saying: “Depriving Palestine of the right to play at home is a dangerous precedent and impossible to accept under any conditions.”
The June match was actually supposed to be played in the Palestinian territories but Saudi Arabia had refused to travel to the West Bank, citing undefined “exceptional circumstances.”
Many Arab national teams refuse to play in the West Bank, saying it “normalizes” Israel’s control of the Palestinian territory.
Access to the Palestinian territories goes through Israeli-controlled territory, and Saudi Arabia has no diplomatic relations with the Jewish state.