FIFA approves measures to avoid Israeli obstacles to Palestinian football

The FIFA Congress here on Friday approved the creation of a mechanism to verify if Israel poses obstacles to Palestinian football and it will also devote time to the issue of teams from illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories that play in the Israeli Premier League.

Of the 209 national football associations present, 168 voted in favour of the Palestinian initiative, 18 against, while the rest abstained. Minutes before that vote, Palestinian Football Association (PFA) dropped its request to suspend its Israeli counterpart, reports Efe.

PFA president Jibril Rajoub explained that he had agreed with his colleagues' counsel to avoid bad blood in the governing body but added that he would not give up on the cause to oblige Israel to respect FIFA regulations.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter thanked Rajoub for this initiative as well as the president of the Israel football association Ofer Eini, who went to the Palestinian delegation after the vote and shook hands with his counterpart, a highly symbolic gesture that was much applauded by the audience.

The mechanism adopted will consist of a three-member committee that will work independently from the Congress, as requested by Palestine.

Rajoub lamented that no results were achieved despite the many attempts throughout the last three years to solve the problems plaguing Palestinian football due to restrictions imposed by Israel, such as restrictions on the movement of players and sport-related assets (including grants), as well as cases of holding equipment for more than a year in Israeli customs.

The PFA president also referred to instances of racism and discrimination and condemned illegal settlement teams playing in Israel's official league, suggesting that the matter be transferred to the United Nations.