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.
Japan captain Wataru Endo on Thursday was ruled out of the FIFA World Cup with injury and announced his international retirement, three days before his team’s opener against the Netherlands. The Liverpool midfielder pulled out of the tournament after failing to recover from a foot injury and was replaced in Japan’s squad by Shuto Machino. The 33-year-old Endo said on social media that he was “frustrated” at not being able to play, but backed his team to impress in Group F, where they face the Netherlands, Tunisia and Sweden. “There will definitely come a time in the future when Japan win the World
FIFA on Friday blamed the empty seats during the FIFA World Cup match between South Korea and the Czech Republic in Guadalajara, Mexico, on fans who watched from the concourses. There were many visible empty spots at the 45,664-capacity Guadalajara Stadium, with sections in the middle of the stands showing many unoccupied spaces and with other empty seats scattered around the venue. The announced attendance was 44,985 — including FIFA president Gianni Infantino. “Official attendance figures reflect the number of tickets scanned and spectators present within the stadium footprint, rather than visual assessments of seating occupancy at any given moment
About 100 people gathered at a bar in Taipei to watch the FIFA World Cup kick off in Mexico, despite the early hour of 3am last night. All seats had been reserved before the game started, said a clerk at Brass Monkey, a bar in Taipei where customers can watch live sports broadcasts. The Group A clash between Mexico and South Africa drew supporters from multiple continents to the venue. For Misael Alanis, a Mexican student who has lived in Taiwan for two-and-a-half years, the atmosphere was just as important as the game itself. "There are a lot of Mexicans here and you can
A rotting body was found on Friday in the trunk of a car parked near the stadium where Iran’s FIFA World Cup team is training in Mexico. The gruesome discovery came with games under way in the tournament, which is being jointly hosted by Mexico, the US and Canada. Reporters watched as police in Tijuana opened the trunk of the gray Toyota SUV, which had California plates, in the parking lot of a supermarket directly across from the Caliente Stadium, where Team Melli are training as they prepare for three games in the US. Specialists in white protective suits worked
RSS