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FIFA chief says football must not divide as Palestinians seek Israel ban
Sepp Blatter, the president of football’s world governing body FIFA visited Israel yesterday as part of an attempt to broker a compromise which would fend off Palestinian attempts to ban Israel from FIFA and essentially exclude the country from the sport.
The FIFA Council, comprised of 209 member countries will vote on a proposal initiated by the Palestinian Football Association (FA) on 29 May which would suspend Israel from FIFA. The Palestinian FA claims that Israeli security restrictions limit the movement of Palestinian players and also opposes the participation of five clubs in the Israeli league which are located in the West Bank. However, Israeli restrictions have not prevented the Palestinian football league including teams from both the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, Israel’s football league includes numerous Arab players and officials at the highest level, while the national team is routinely represented by Arab and other minority players.
Blatter met yesterday with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who accused the Palestinians of attempting to politicize football. Netanyahu said, “Sport is a vehicle of goodwill among nations … You politicize it once with Israel, then you politicize it for everyone, and it will cause the deterioration of a great institution.”
Blatter, who will meet with PA President Mahmoud Abbas today, is thought to oppose the Palestinian initiative and said last week, “We want to be in sport and not in politics, we could set a very dangerous precedent” by adopting the Palestinian proposal. Yesterday, Blatter commented, “Football has the power to connect people. Football has the power to construct bridges … Football shall unite people and not divide people.” Blatter apparently proposed a peace match between Israeli and Palestinian teams, to which Israeli FA chief Ofer Eini immediately agreed.
However, Palestinian FA head Jibril Rajoub commented, “We will never, ever accept any compromise,” adding , “[The Israelis] think they can keep leading the world by the nose because of the Holocaust … They are the bully of the neighbourhood.”