Rajoub: FIFA call 'unjust'

The head of the Palestinian Football Union (PFU) has accused FIFA of bowing to pressure from Saudi Arabia after the decision to move their upcoming 2018 World Cup qualifier to a neutral venue.

Jibril Rajoub has branded FIFA's decision to move the October 13 qualifier to neighboring Jordan "unjust and reprehensible." Under restrictions from Israel, the Palestine team hasn't played international matches on home soil and extensive controls have seen players arrested when travelling to represent their country.

Palestine's national team qualified for the AFC Asian Cup for the first time in 2015 and in September hosted their first World Cup qualifier against the United Arab Emirates in Al-Ram, near Jerusalem.

Rajoub said he was "shocked" by the decision to move the return leg to Jordan after the first leg went ahead in the Saudi capital Riyadh. "Resorting to FIFA in this way reflects insistence on not coming to Palestine under any circumstances," Rajoub told The Associated Press news agency. "The Palestinian Union will use all legal and international tools to revoke this injustice."

At the FIFA Congress, Rajoub removed a proposal to have Israel suspended and has come under criticism for deciding to cancel to vote at the last minute. The home match with the UAE shows "Palestine exists and that Palestinians have the right to live in their own independent state," Rajoub added.

He has said the PFU will lobby internationally to have the decision overturned and said "depriving Palestine of the right to play at home is a dangerous precedent and impossible to accept under any conditions."

FIFA have said the decision is "final and binding", while Saudi Arabia's governing body has praised the decision - "in exceptional circumstances" - over fears of passing through Israeli border controls.

rd (AFP, AP)