FIFA president Sepp Blatter is to meet the head of Palestinian soccer to discuss the latter’s request that Israel be barred from international competition, the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) said on Saturday.
A PFA statement said that Blatter would meet Jibril Rajoub ahead of world soccer’s governing body’s next congress in Cairo late next month, but did not give a date for the talks.
FIFA declined to comment on Saturday.
The Palestinians want Israel suspended because of their “racist behavior against Arabs,” with the statement claiming that Blatter had recently contacted Rajoub and assured him that “serious discussions were under way for the Palestinian draft resolution to be submitted to a vote at the next congress in May.”
The PFA also protested against the creation of “five clubs in settlements on land occupied since 1967, clubs participating in Israeli national championships in violation of international law.”
The PFA previously called for Israel’s suspension in November last year after Israeli forces raided its headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
It has also cried foul over Israeli travel restrictions on Palestinian players.
To be passed, the Palestinian resolution must win the support of at least 156 other delegates at the 209-member congress.
The Palestinians were upgraded from observer entity to a UN “observer state” in 2012, and although not yet universally recognized as a state, their national soccer team gained FIFA recognition in 1998.
A FIFA delegation visited the Gaza Strip in January and pledged US$1 million to help rebuild stadiums there, many of which were damaged during the conflict between Israel and Hamas in July and August last year.
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