By Andrew Warshaw
May 27 – President Sepp Blatter says he is determined to resolve the impasse between Palestine and Israel as the clock ticks towards the FIFA Congress in Sao Paolo just before the World Cup when the issue is officially on the agenda amid threats that delegates might be asked to call for Israel’s expulsion. Blatter is back in the region for crucial talks with both sides but admits it could prove difficult to persuade Israel to agree to a compromise that would allow Palestinian players and officials to move freely in the occupied territories.
Blatter told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (pictured) in a meeting on Monday that “we shall find a solution” but that “it will not be so easy to deal on the other side.”
He is due to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today in another effort to make some kind of breakthrough towards a working relationship between the two sides and prevent matters coming to a head at next month’s Congress.
Despite the establishment of a mediation Task Force involving both UEFA (of which Israel is a member) and the Asian Football Confederation (which includes Palestine) little progress appears to have been made. Blatter wants both sides to sign a politically symbolic memorandum of understanding at Congress but time is running out.
Blatter began his Middle East visit in Jordan where he met FIFA’s Asian vice-president Prince Ali, himself embroiled in a political power struggle with AFC chief Sheikh Salman.
Blatter described Jordan as a “hub for peace”, stressing the importance of the country hosting the 2016 under-17 Women’s World Cup especially after Prince Ali’s successful campaign to allow Muslim women footballers to wear headscarves in official matches.
When he moved on to Ramallah in the West Bank, Blatter was joined at a news conference by the head of Palestinian football Jibril Rajoub who once again described Israel as the “bully of the neighbourhood”.
Rajoub has warned he will call for sanctions against the Israeli FA unless tangible improvements are made but Blatter is putting subtle pressure on the Palestinians not to call for Israel’s suspension from FIFA but give mediation talks more time to bear fruit.
“I think at the Congress we should try to be in the sporting spirit and not in the spirit of punishment,” he said. ”As I am an optimist, at the end of the year we will have found a solution and will present the solution to the political authorities.
“Security means also that there shall be solutions that people can come in and go out because Palestine has the right to play in FIFA competitions or Asian competitions.”
Israel cites concerns about attacks from Palestinian militants as the main reason for imposing restrictions but critics say those restrictions unlawfully penalise innocent sports officials.
“We hope and pray that your mission will succeed,” Rajoub said of Blatter’s efforts. Otherwise, the Palestine Football Association “will have no other option but to ask the FIFA Congress to ask for sanctions against the Israeli Football Association.”
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