Day -962. WorldCup2018.
This is a partly confusing continuation from yesterday and also further
proof of the unavoidable interference of politics in football.
To backtrack a little bit, once the draw for Palestine's World Cup
qualifying group was made there was immediate concern about whether the
Arab nations, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, would actually go to Palestine
to play. To get there they would have to go though Israeli borders and
therefore have political interaction with a state that they have no
diplomatic relations with.
Palestinian Football Association
Chair Jibril Rajoub is determined to promote Palestine and Palestinian
football on the world map. He campaigned successfully to have the UAE
play their match in Palestine and seemed to have come to a compromise
with the Saudis to also play their re-arranged match there.
Rajoub, in
his meeting with the Saudis, said: "It is our legitimate historical right to
host historic home games on our land, and we are not going to give it
up."
And later when it seemed that Saudi Arabia would indeed not play:
"We need to point out to all those who fear normalization with Israel,”
Rajoub said, “that no such fear should arise as long as the goal is to
play against the team of Palestine on the land of Palestine.” He also
said that if no teams played in Palestine then there is no need for a
Palestinian Football Association.
Yesterday, Saudi Arabia
informed Fifa that they will not play the re-arranged match tomorrow as
was decided by the Emergency Bureau for the Fifa World Cup Qualifiers.
It was assumed that Palestine would be awarded a 3-0 win.
This withdrawal was greeted with praise by many on social media in Saudi Arabia:
"The message is clear: We are serious on our stance towards the
Palestinian cause. Stay proud Saudi Arabia," tweeted Saudi YouTube star
Feras Bugnah"
And Hamas joined in too: "We welcome the withdrawal
of the Saudi football team from the world cup qualifier on occupied
Palestinian land. We respect this position against normalising relations
with Israel."
All good then, to a certain extent. And, as
reported yesterday the UAE were happy as this increased their chances of
qualifying.
Today, expecting a decision from Fifa, I instead
was dumbfounded to read that the Saudi withdrawal has now been turned
into yet another re-scheduling. Whereas yesterday the Palestinians were
guaranteeing the security and safety of the Saudi team and delegation,
today that got reversed. After a meeting between the Fifa match
official, from Nigeria, and local officials, the Palestinian government
said that it could no longer guarantee the safety and security around
the matches in question (vs Saudi Arabia and the next one vs Malaysia).
Therefore the Emergency Bureau for the Fifa World Cup Qualifiers
decided that both of these matches will both be played at neutral venues
on November 9th and 12th. The Bureau is chaired by Sheik Salman Bin
Ebrahim Al Khalifa. Yes, that same Sheikh Salman, President of the Asian
Football Confederation and one of the candidates for the Fifa
presidency. Controversial? Political interference? Deep, hidden agendas?
The Sheikh's personal interests? Take your pick. But why the turnaround
from, "come, you will be safe" to "no way we can guarantee you will be
safe". And whenever has a team decided not to show up for a match and be
allowed to get away with it?
And who is sad about all this,
apart from the Palestinian football fans? The football supporters in the
UAE. Yesterday The National newspaper was calculating the costs and
benefits of the 3-0 Palestinian win for Saudi Arabia and the UAE
respectively. Today, you could almost sense their disappointment in
their reporting of this Fifa change of heart. Now they'll actually have
to go out and win their matches.
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