FIFA proposes a match between Palestine and the Zionist Organization

The answer is not clear

The International Football Federation (FIFA) has proposed a kick-off match between the Palestinian national teams and the Zionist Organization to kick off the first edition of the Under-15 World Football Festival.

 

The new tournament is scheduled to be held in the United States of America next September and will be open to all 211 FIFA member federations, including Russia, which was kicked out of FIFA competition after its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

 

Informed sources told British newspaper The Athletic that FIFA had hoped to open the festival with a confrontation between Palestine and the Zionist Organization, and the move comes in the wake of a failed attempt. President of the International Federation, Gianni Infantinoprompt representatives of the two federations to shake hands and take a joint photo on the podium at the organization’s annual convention on April 30.

 

The president of the Palestinian Football Association, Jibril Rajoub, and the vice-president of the Zionist Organization’s Football Association, Bassem Sheikh Suleiman, gave two separate speeches to the hundreds of delegations attending the Congress in Vancouver.

 

Infantino called for both of them to return to the pulpit again, but he could not bring them together as Rajoub pleaded. “We are suffering.”

 

After a tense moment on the podium in which Rajoub and Infantino found themselves in a heated exchange while Suleiman stood alone a few feet away, the then-FIFA president showed off the new festival.

 

Infantino said from the podium. “A beautiful tournament is waiting for up to 15 years, and we will invite all 211 countries, all the children of the world, to participate. Let’s do it for them, let’s work together. You have my full commitment and the support of the entire hall.”

 

The Palestinian Football Association, on the other hand, did not respond to a request for comment on FIFA’s proposal.

 

The position of both sides regarding participating or not participating in this football festival is still uncertain.

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