WEST BANK: SOCCER: FIFA President Blatter meets the Palestinian president and launches women's soccer championship

Record ID: 561683

  • Title: WEST BANK: SOCCER: FIFA President Blatter meets the Palestinian president and launches women's soccer championship
  • Date: 27th October 2008
  • Summary: GUARD SALUTING
  • Embargoed: 11th November 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVADDXTCCTOUFEB770N81YO99PIS
  • Story Text: FIFA President Sepp Blatter arrives in the West Bank and meets Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ahead of the first international soccer match to be played by the Palestinian team at home.
    FIFA President Sepp Blatter said the first international soccer match on Sunday (October 26) between the Jordan and Palestine national teams on Palestinian soil was a historic event he was proud to attend.
    Blatter escorted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in kick-starting a female soccer championship upon arrival in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, after he laid a wreath on the grave of late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.

    "But the historic event on this 26 of October 2008, is the first international match played in Palestine and here in Ramallah, between the national team of Palestine and the national team of Jordan. And this is something exceptional and I'm happy.... to be here," Blatter told reporters with Abbas on his side in the presidential office in Ramallah.
    Previously, Palestine played all their matches abroad, mainly in the Gulf, because soccer's international governing body, FIFA, deemed the Palestinian territories unsafe to host visiting teams.
    Blatter said representatives from the Saudi, Emirates and other soccer associations, who arrived in Ramallah on Sunday for the soccer game, had helped fund the new Palestinian stadium in al-Ram, on the outskirts of Jerusalem.
    Jibril al-Rajoub, chairman of the Palestinian Football Association and a former Palestinian security chief, has been instrumental in the revival of soccer in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
    Blatter said the Arab guest's presence in Ramallah was an expression of their support for the right of national teams to play on their home soil.

    "We know that the sports are the step to build peace, and as Mr.
    Blatter has just said, some goals are achieved in the playground field and some goals will be achieved in the political field," Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in the news conference in the presidential compound.
    The soccer game, the first to be attended by Arabs from states that have no official diplomatic relations with Israel, will be an important day for the Palestinians.
    Palestinian soccer saw the start of a revival in the West Bank in August with the relaunch of a semi-professional league that was suspended after a violent Palestinian uprising against Israel erupted in 2000.
    The modern Palestinian FA which represents the Palestinian territories was officially recognised by FIFA in 1998.
    Blatter thanked the Palestinians for their warm reception and thanked the Israelis for not blocking the entry of Arabs and other guests attending the soccer game in Ramallah.
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