Clinging to a metal fence around a Ramallah training ground, dozens of wide-eyed youngsters looked on in awe as the stars of Palestinian soccer limbered up on waterlogged synthetic grass.
Nearby, the settlement of Bet-El loomed as a stark reminder of the conditions that have always prevented their team from playing in front of their fans on their own territory.
Now soccer is finally coming home — more than a decade after the creation of the game’s own Palestinian ruling association — and a fever is sweeping Ramallah and the rest of the West Bank in the build-up to today’s international friendly between Palestine and Jordan.
PHOTO: EPA
The first match to be played on home soil by the national team is being heralded as a much-needed diversion for tens of thousands of fans who will watch the game on television or at the venue in East Jerusalem itself.
After a loosening of Israeli restrictions and overcoming FIFA’s reluctance to sanction matches under hazardous conditions, Palestinians are finally getting ready to host their Jordanian peers on a pitch a stone’s throw from the concrete blocks of Israel’s security barrier.
Rami Rabi, a star of the Palestinian side, was quick to point out its significance: “It’s not just a friendly game between us and Jordan, it allows us to show the world we exist as a nation.”
Rabi, 26, noted that home advantage, as well as “the occasion [itself] means that we have a chance of winning. Whatever happens, we intend to give the fans two hours of happiness to forget about their problems.”
These problems encroach on fans traveling across the West Bank to support their local soccer teams.
“There was a recent game involving a team from Nablus who were playing in Jericho, in which three bus loads of supporters were stopped at a checkpoint on their way back to Nablus,” said Xavier Abu Eid, 24, a Palestinian involved in preparations for the event. “The army decided to shut the checkpoint, meaning the entire group had to sleep on the coaches, unable to return home until the soldiers unlocked the gates at 6am the next day.”
Security restrictions have once again been stepped up across the West Bank in the wake of the stabbing of two Israelis by a Palestinian man in Jerusalem on Thursday. Fans from surrounding towns could find it more difficult than usual to make it through the checkpoints and roadblocks for today’s game.
The only concession made by the Israeli authorities for the match day has been to allow Palestinian security forces to police the stadium in Ar-Ram — an area usually off-limits to the Palestinian constabulary. Otherwise, the Israeli security arrangements will be “business as usual,” Palestinian officials said.
The squad has been weakened by Israel’s refusal to grant entry visas to several Palestinian players living in countries including Syria, Lebanon and Egypt. Furthermore, six players living in Gaza have been prohibited from entering the West Bank to play Jordan.
Roberto Bishara, a Palestinian player living in Chile, was challenged as he tried to cross into the West Bank. According to Abu Eid, Israeli security forces asked him “how can you be playing for the Palestinian national team when there is no Palestine?”
That most of Jordan’s players are professional and the Palestinians part-time at best is reflected in their FIFA rankings — Palestine 180th, Jordan 112th.
Alongside Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayad, FIFA president Sepp Blatter will lead today’s pre-match ceremony at the new Faisal Husseini Stadium, funded by FIFA’s Goal Project, which helps developing countries improve their soccer infrastructure.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but