Keep sport away from politics says Palestine FA chief

The Palestinian Football Association President Jibril Rajoub says he will address the FIFA Congress on Thursday (April 29) and ask for 'protection' from what he says are aggressive Israeli actions against sport.

Speaking to Reuters in Vancouver, Canada, Rajoub said politics should be kept out of sport.

On Wednesday, PFA vice president Susan Shalabi said the situation for Palestinian soccer remained dire, particularly in Gaza, where she said every soccer structure was either unusable or destroyed.

"It's the time for the international community for the international sport family, for FIFA and others to make the right decision to protect us, to enable us to practice and exercise as others are enjoying all over the world," said Rajoub.

"The Israelis have no rights from one side to enjoy and from the other side to deny the Palestinians the same fundamental right."

The PFA has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against FIFA's decision not to sanction Israel over clubs based in West Bank settlements.

It has repeatedly asked FIFA to impose sanctions and says it has been left with no choice but to take a legal route.

"Building a wall between politics and this world (sport) is a benefit of everybody, including the three countries who are hosting the World Cup," added Rajoub.

"Let us at least present something uniting the world rather than dividing or rather than functioning according to this or that political agenda for us as Palestinians, for us in the Middle East."

-Iain Axon, Julien Pretot/Reuters