November 1 – Almost 18 months after Argentina called off a World Cup warm-up game with Israel after coming under pressure over Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, they have agreed to play South Americans rivals Uruguay on Israeli soil on November 18 in a prestige friendly.
The match follows Argentina’s clash with Brazil on November 15 in Saudi Arabia and will be held at the New Bloomfield Stadium in Jaffa, the southern part of the coastal city of Tel Aviv, part-organised by Israeli event management company Comtecgroup.
“After long negotiations and intense competition with strong countries with huge budgets worldwide, I am happy and proud to bring the Israeli fans soccer at the highest levels,” said Comtecgroup’s owner and CEO, Daniel Benaim.
But the game has, not surprisingly, attracted the wrath of Palestinian sympathisers, not least the Khadamat Rafah based in Gaza, who were one of the teams in the unplayed Palestinian Cup final.
The club has reportedly written to both the Argentine and Uruguay federations asking them to call off the fixture, a request that is almost certain to fall on deaf ears.
In September, Israel refused to let players from Khadamat Rafah travel a few kilometres to play Nablus’s FC Balata in a Palestine Cup final rematch that was due to take place in the occupied West Bank. The winner would have represented Palestine in the Asian Champions League but Israel denied travel permits for 23 of the 35 members of the Gaza team.
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