By Andrew Warshaw in Warsaw
June 14 – Palestinian football officials have called on UEFA to strip Israel of hosting the 2013 European Under-21 Championship over Palestine national team players being detained without trial.
Palestinian Football Association (PFA) President Jibril Rajoub has written to UEFA President Michel Platini charging that the Israeli Government is in “direct violation of FIFA regulations”.
“We ask, your Excellency, to not give Israel the honour to host the next UEFA Under-21 Championship,” Rajoub wrote.
“We are deeply concerned about the situation of our footballers.”
UEFA have so far declined to comment on the request though it is highly unlikely Europe’s governing body would make such a move for purely political reasons especially since Israel won the bid for the eight-nation tournament, taking place from June 5 to 18 next year, over Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, England and Wales.
Rajoub is pressuring Platini to intervene on Palestine’s behalf just as midfielder Mahmoud Sarsak, 25, approaches a fourth month on a hunger strike.
Sarsak has been handed a three-year sentence for being an “illegal combatant” after he was stopped at a Gaza Strip checkpoint while travelling to an international match, according to Rajoub (pictured below).
“For athletes in Palestine, there is no real freedom of movement, and the risks of being detained or even killed are always looming before their eyes,” he wrote.
He also named two other players, Omar Rweis and Mohammad Nimer, who he claimed were also being illegally held.
It is understood a copy of his letter has also been sent to Asia’s FIFA vice-president Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan in the hope he, too, can intervene.
Palestine is an official FIFA member and plays competitive games as part of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) whereas Israel came to rest in Europe after being kicked out of Asian football many years ago following a long political wrangle.
Significantly, FIFA President Sepp Blatter, while stopping short of supporting the idea that Israel be stripped of host status for the 2013 under-21 event, has nevertheless written to Israel Football Association (IFA) President Avi Luzon (pictured below) expressing concern that Sarsak and two other Palestinian players were being detained “in apparent violation of their integrity and human rights and without the apparent right of due process (trial)”.
French football icon Éric Cantona has already called for the release of Sarsak.
Cantona, too, has written to Platini saying Israel should be subjected to the same scrutiny faced by current 2012 European Championship hosts Poland and Ukraine.
“It is time to end Israel’s impunity and to insist on the same standards of equality, justice and respect for international law that we demand of other states,” said Cantona.
The international professional footballers’ union FIFPro has also got involved saying it was “very concerned about the situation” of Palestine players being “harassed, arrested or even killed”.
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