Off the wire
• British FTSE 100 increases 0.46 pct on Wednesday  • LME base metals mostly increase on Wednesday  • 1st LD Writethru: Flights from Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh to Britain delayed as precautionary measure  • Canadian PM Trudeau appoints 31-member cabinet  • Mozambique cracks down on crimes against albinos  • Urgent: Britain decides to delay flights from Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh  • Beer contamination cause of 75 deaths in NW Mozambique  • French stock market index up 0.25 pct on Wednesday  • U.S. stocks waver after Yellen's speech  • China donates equipment to anti-poaching efforts in Kenya  
You are here: 　 Home

Large controversy over Palestine-Saudi World Cup qualifier

Xinhua, November 5, 2015 Adjust font size:

For security reasons, FIFA on Wednesday ordered Palestine to find a neutral venue in Asia to host its next two World Cup qualifiers against Saudi Arabia and Malaysia, but it has not been accepted by Palestine.  

   In a statement on its website, the world's soccer governing body stated, "the Palestinian government confirmed that it could no longer guarantee the safety and security around the matches in question." 

   Saudi Arabia, which has no diplomatic relations with Israel, announced on Tuesday that they refused to play in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

   Saudi Arabia beat Palestine 3-2 in their first leg of the Asian Zone qualifiers in Jeddah in June. The return leg had been set for Oct. 13 but was postponed to Nov. 5 due to the same reason. As the venue is still in controversy, the game has been rescheduled for Nov. 9. The game with Malaysia is expected to be held three days later. 

   The Palestinian Football Association (PFA) Spokesperson Tayseer Nasr Allah told Xinhua that the FIFA notice is unjust to the Palestinian sports and that politics played a role in the case. 

   Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had received a phone call from Mohammed Bin Salman, the Saudi Deputy Crown Prince, the official Palestinian News Agency (WAFA) reported.  

   The agency didn't add much details on the conversation. However, a Palestinian source said that Saudi pressured Abbas to accept moving the game away from the country. 

   Meanwhile, Sami Abu Zuhri, Hamas movement's spokesman in Gaza said in a statement, "Hamas appreciates the Saudi position to boycott any normalization with the Israeli occupation."

   Although the PFA has yet to accept the FIFA's order, Nasr Allah said that the PFA is studying all the options.  Endi