At the Asian Cup of Nations, Palestine will play in the shadow of the Gaza war

The Palestinian selection is preparing to participate for the third time in the Asian Cup of Nations, which begins on January 12 in Qatar.

Relatives of players killed, stadiums bombed and a championship at a standstill: Palestinian football, whose selection is preparing to compete in the Asian Cup of Nations, is also paying a heavy price for the devastating war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Less than two weeks before the continental competition in Qatar (January 12-February 10), the Palestine team is not in the mood for football.

The players “follow the news after and before training, on the bus, in the hotel. They are always anxious and thinking about their familiesTunisian team coach Makram Daboub told AFP by telephone. We have physical, technical and tactical problems due to the suspension of the championship and the lack of competition, without forgetting the mental aspect.”

The Palestinian selection, which will compete in the Asian Cup for the third time, is expected in Doha on Tuesday for a final preparation course before the start of the competition. “Palestinian supporters are counting a lot on the selection so that it obtains good results (…), despite the difficult conditions that our people are going through due to Israeli aggression which led to the cessation of competitions”the official Palestinian Authority news agency wrote on Monday.

“Hoist the Palestinian flag”

The championships in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip have in fact been suspended since the start of the war triggered by an unprecedented attack by Palestinian Hamas on Israeli soil. In the national team, “many players are suffering, I can cite among them Mahmoud Wadi and Muhammad Saleh”underlines the coach. “They are professionals in Egypt, but their families are in Gaza and their homes have been destroyed. Some of their relatives have been killed or displaced (…). They live in difficult conditions.”

“Our goal is qualification for advanced rounds of the Asian Cup, and showing a face that honors Palestinian football”estimates Makram Daboub. “Hoisting the Palestinian flag in international forums or continental competitions is an affirmation of Palestinian identity and the fact that in the land of Palestine there is a people who deserve freedom and a better life”proclaims the coach.

Gaza stadium hijacked

The president of the Palestinian football federation, Jibril Rajoub, accuses the Israeli army of “target sports facilities, clubs and federation headquarters.” “We saw horrific images during its invasion of Yarmouk Stadium in the Gaza Strip, which it transformed into a center of detention, abuse and interrogation, in blatant violation of the Olympic Charter”adds this historic member of the Fatah party of President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas.

Jibril Rajoub refers to images showing Palestinians, including children, undressed on the football field of the Gaza stadium, built in 1938. According to the Israeli army, they were suspected of being involved in “terrorist activities”.

The Palestinian Football Federation announced that it had sent a letter to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and FIFA to “noting the destruction of infrastructure” and demand “an urgent international investigation into the crimes of the occupation against athletes in Palestine”.