Palestinian football chief Jibril Rajoub on Tuesday said he took full responsibility for an 11th-hour decision to withdraw a bid to have FIFA suspend Israel from the world footballing body.AFP, of course, swallows that line whole.
The surprise decision was announced by Rajoub on Friday at the annual FIFA congress in Zurich minutes before the vote, reportedly sparking jubilation in Israel but deep-rooted frustration among the Palestinians, some of whom have demanded his resignation as head of Palestinian Football Association (PFA).
"I take full responsibility for this matter," he told reporters in Al-Bireh near Ramallah, insisting that the resolution had not been dropped but only suspended.
"From the start, I said this was about sport, not politics."
Even though Rajoub has said the exact opposite in the past.
In fact, even later in the same interview he contradicted himself:
He said that cornering Israel over its actions both on and off the pitch putting was "a historic and important milestone in the history of Palestinian sports."Yes, the most important milestone in Palestinian sports is - political!
He defines sports as politics!
Rajoub also said that not only would his bid to ban Israel not reach the 75% majority needed, but that he couldn't muster half the votes necessary:
Rajoub admitted the PFA had come under a lot of pressure from fellow associations as well as from UEFA chief Michel Platini to back off from the move.
"Most of the football associations told us they would vote against us if we presented the motion as it was," he said.
"We modified the motion and froze the suspension until FIFA is able to investigate."
Some readers were skeptical about whether Rajoub's amended resolution, that passed with 90% of the FIFA vote, really included language calling Israel "racist" as I had reported based on a Haaretz article.
I still cannot find the text on the FIFA site, but the Palestinian football Association published what they said was the text of the resolution, and according to them it most certainly does:
Amendment to the Proposal Presented by the Palestine Football Association for Approval During the 65th FIFA CongressThere are two published at the site, and they aren't the same, so it is possible that the text changed before the actual vote, but at least one phrase that is here was quoted by AFP verbatim as being part of the resolution. AFP also wrote that the committee was charged to investigate "Israeli racism."
In order to end the suffering and discrimination of our Palestinian football family at the hands of the illegal and racist occupation of our land, we have presented a proposal for a final solution. After several meetings with Mr. Blatter, Mr. Valkce, and representatives from different confederations and associations, with the aim to facilitate the feasibility and implementation of our proposal, we have made the following clarification.
The proposal stipulates 3 main concerns of the PFA in regards of IFA violations of FIFA Statutes, including:
1. Restrictions of Palestinian rights for the freedom of movement. Players and football officials both within and outside the borders of the occupied State of Palestine, have been systematically restricted from their right to free movement, and continue to be hindered, limited, and obstructed by a set of unilateral regulations arbitrarily and inconsistently implemented. This constitutes a direct violation by IFA of Article 13.3 of the FIFA Statute, specifically in relation to Article 13.1 (i) and its correspond articles in UEFA rules;
2. The continued racism and discriminatory behaviour of IFA officials and clubs in direct violation of not only the principles of FIFA, (including FIFA's no-tolerance policy against racism and discrimination) but specifically in violation of Article 3 of the FIFA Statute and corresponding UEFA rules; and
3. The grave concern over at least five Israeli clubs located in illegal settlements in the occupied State of Palestine. The presence of the Israeli clubs, located in territory recognized by the international community as part of the State of Palestine, constitutes a direct violation of Articles 83 and 84 of the FIFA Statutes, including relevant UEFA rules.
As a viable and effective resolution to the above issues and violations of FIFA Statutes, it is proposed that:
· FIFA will appoint a multi-lateral monitor group to work directly under the rules of the FIFA Ethics, Legal, and Discrimination committees, and will be composed of International Observers;
· The monitor group will ensure the freedom of the PFA to develop its activities at the highest level possible, and be in accordance with FIFA requirements and standards, with special attention to Article 3 of FIFA Statutes and under FIFA's objectives as described in article 2 of the said Statutes;
· The monitor group will supervise the possible infringement of FIFA rules by IFA and their clubs, with special attention to Article 3 of FIFA Statutes;
· The Congress, if approved by a majority as established under Article 27.6 of FIFA Statutes, and based on its prerogatives under article 14.1 of the said Statutes, will act in accordance with Articles 83.2 and 84 of FIFA Statutes. If shown to be true that these Israeli teams discussed are based on, and playing out of occupied Palestinian lands, the Israeli Football Association will face the consequences of Article 14.1 in relation to Articles 13.1 and 13.2,; and
· In order to prove the territorial issue, which will be the basis for any measures implemented by FIFA statutes, FIFA will request the United Nations to officially notify FIFA of UN General Assembly Resolution 67/19.
And the person heading this committee happens to be the person that Rajoub recently hosted on a biased tour of "Palestine," Tokya Sexwale of South Africa.