Palestinian football, with its national team preparing to compete in the 2023 Asian Cup Finals, is paying a heavy price for the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip. Players and their relatives were killed, stadiums bombed, and matches suspended.
Less than two weeks before the 2023 Asian Cup football finals, running from January 12 to February 10 in Qatar, the Palestinian national team members do not seem in the right mindset for football.
The Palestinian team is placed in Group D, alongside Iran, a three-time Asian champion, the United Arab Emirates, and Hong Kong, in a challenge that will not be easy for the companions of the Tunisian coach Makram Daboub, the technical director of the Palestinian team. Until now, the Palestinian team has not won any match in the Asian Cup during its previous two participations.
Coach Daboub notes that the players "follow the news before and after training, on the bus, and in the hotel. They are in a constant state of worry, thinking about their families."
The Palestinian national team, participating in the Asian Cup for the third time, is expected to conduct its final training session today in Doha before the commencement of the matches.
"Wafa", the official Palestinian news agency, wrote on Monday that, “the Palestinian fans are heavily banking on the national team to achieve satisfactory results in the Asian Cup, despite the difficult circumstances faced by our people due to the Israeli aggression which has halted football competitions."
Daboub continues, "We have physical, technical, and tactical problems; because of the suspension of the football championship and lack of competition, as well as the psychological impact of all this."
"Affirming Palestinian Identity"
Football competitions in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip have been suspended since the outbreak of war on the besieged sector.
After 88 days of occupation aggression, more than 22,000 people, mostly women and children, were martyred, and about 58,000 were injured, according to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, which has been the highest toll for any Israeli operation to date.
In the ranks of the Palestinian national team, "many players suffer, among them I can name: Mahmoud Wadi and Mohamed Saleh," per Daboub.
The coach explains, "They work in Egypt, but their families are in Gaza and their homes have been destroyed, and their relatives have been killed or displaced (…) These players are living in difficult conditions."
He adds, "Our goal is to qualify for the advanced rounds of the Asian Cup and to present an image that honors Palestinian football."
He continues, "Raising the Palestinian flag in international forums or continental competitions is a confirmation of Palestinian identity and that there is a people in the land of Palestine who deserve freedom and a better life."
"One of the Oldest Stadiums in Palestine"
Jibril Rajoub, president of the Palestinian Football Association, states, "In the midst of the comprehensive war waged by the Israeli occupation against the entire Palestinian entity (…) the youth, sports and scout movements were not separate from what our people are experiencing."
He adds, "To date, more than 1,000 members of the youth and sports and scouting movements have fallen victim to it, between martyr and wounded and missing, and tens of thousands of displaced people."
Rajoub accuses the Israeli army of "targeting sports facilities and the headquarters of Palestinian sports associations and clubs."
He goes on to say, referencing photos showing naked Palestinians, including children, at the Yarmouk football stadium in Gaza, "The occupation has come out with horrendous images during its invasion of the Yarmouk stadium in Gaza Strip, turning it into a detention, repression, and interrogation center for our people, in clear and explicit violation of the Olympic Charter, and all continental and international laws and covenants."
Rajoub says, "This stadium, one of the oldest in Palestine, was established in 1938 and equipped to meet international requirements to be adopted as a home ground for Palestine, is not isolated from what the Palestinian sports movement is going through, and what the Palestinian territories are generally experiencing due to this blatant aggression against our people."
The Palestinian Football Association has announced that it has sent "urgent messages to the International Olympic Committee and all international, continental, and regional federations," including FIFA, "requesting an urgent international investigation into the occupation's crimes against sport and athletes in Palestine."
