Palestine will play matches in Jordan
Palestinian Football Association (PFA) spokesperson Tayseer Nasr Allah said that the FIFA notice is unjust to Palestinian sports and that politics played a role in the case.
The timely intervention of Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman helped move the venue of a crucial World Cup qualifying match between Saudi Arabia and Palestine to a neutral venue.
That match was originally supposed to be played in Palestine, but Saudi Arabia had refused to travel to the Israeli-occupied West Bank, citing undefined “exceptional circumstances”.
The decision followed meetings Tuesday in the Palestinian territory “after which the Palestinian government confirmed that it could no longer guarantee the safety and security around the matches in question”.
The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) had also sent an appeal letter to FIFA on three occasions, requesting the match against Palestine to be held in a neutral venue before the world football governing body granted their request on Wednesday.
In between, Palestine hosted the United Arab Emirates and drew 0-0.
The teams played in Jeddah in June in the first of their two scheduled Asia zone World Cup qualifiers, with the Saudis winning 3-2.
The home match for Palestine against Saudi Arabia has already been postponed twice.