2023-10-23 19:00:00
Cold shower for the Palestinian football team. Algeria’s gesture towards the Palestine Football Federation was stopped dead by Fifa and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Algeria decided, on October 15, to host, at the request of the Palestine Football Federation, all official or unofficial matches of the Canaan Lions selection as part of the preparation of the Palestinian football selection. to the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup and the 2027 Asian Cup of Nations and to cover all costs related to these events. A gesture of solidarity wanted by Algiers.
Le « not » de la Fifa
But on October 19, the Algerian Football Federation (FAF) received a letter from its Palestinian counterpart indicating that the AFC as well as Fifa “have not given a favorable response regarding the domiciliation of the matches of its national team in Algeria, while forcing the latter to evolve in its zone, namely the Asian continent, in accordance with the regulations in force,” according to a press release from the FAF.
“Objectively speaking, it is true that the too long distances for teams to travel to Algeria, like those from Australia, can explain the veto of Fifa and the AFC,” recognizes the author and journalist specializing in football Nazim Bessol. “But the geographical argument seems to be used by global and regional authorities as they wish”, nuance the founder of the site footafrique.com. “Why, then, is it completely normal for Israel or Turkey or even Russia to play – before Russia’s exclusion following the war in Ukraine – in the European Championship? » argues the specialist. Russia and Turkey are considered by UEFA to be transcontinental countries (between Asia and Europe). Five countries from the Asian continent are part of UEFA: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Israel. After the 1973 war, Israel was excluded from all Asian sports federations before being accepted into European organizations.
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Where will the Palestinians play?
According to the sports news site DZ Football, “the situation remains uncertain for the Palestinians, obviously not in the capacity to host their meetings on their territory. It seems plausible that Qatar, which has high-level venues due to the 2022 World Cup, will allow them to organize the various qualifying matches for the 2026 World Cup and the 2027 Asian Cup of Nations. . According to the Palestinian federation, other countries have offered to host their national team: Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Indonesia. In the meantime, the Palestinian selection, coached by the Tunisian Makram Daboub, “will remain abroad in order to respect all these commitments in the various competitions”, specified the Palestine Football Federation.
The first match which was to be played on the Algerian pitch will pit the Palestinians against Australia, on November 21, for World Cup qualifying (second day of group 1 including Palestine, Australia, Bangladesh and Lebanon).
The Palestine team currently occupies 97th place in the Fifa rankings and remains on a defeat in Vietnam last month in a friendly (2-0).
As a reminder, the Algerian Football Federation had suspended all football events “until further notice” in solidarity with the Palestinians.
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