RAMALLAH: FIFA President Sepp Blatter arrived Palestinian territories yesterday from Jordan to attend the exhibition of the first international game between the Palestinian and Jordanian soccer teams in a renovated stadium near East Jerusalem.
Blatter, alongside a high-ranking Arab delegation, will inaugurate the Faisal Al-Husseini Football Stadium in Al-Ram, between Ramallah and Jerusalem, which was upgraded to meet the standards set by FIFA.
The new stadium will allow the Palestinian team to play home games in Palestine.
The team had earlier played their home games in Jordan, Qatar and other Arab countries.
Blatter will also inaugurate a second grass soccer field in Palestinian territory, at Majed Al-Asaad in El Bireh.
While the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) headquarters is based in Gaza, FIFA plans to finance a pitch in Gaza City have been stalled since 2006.
The PFA regularly has teams in the West Bank and Gaza, which compete locally before facing off for the national title. Since 2006, however, no Gaza teams or Gazan players have played for Palestine on the international level and competition has been limited to the West Bank leagues.
The Palestinians are ranked 180th of 207 members by FIFA, peaking at No. 115 in April 2006. The national team affiliated with FIFA in 1998.
The delegation that will open the West Bank stadiums on Sunday includes President of the Asian Football Federation Muhammad Ibn Hammam, President of the Jordanian Football Federation (JFF), Prince Ali Ibn Al-Hussein, Vice President of the JFF Nidal Al-Hadid and several Football representatives from the United Arab Emirates, who arrived on Saturday were hosted by Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in his office in Ramallah.
Prince Ali Ibn Al-Hussein is scheduled to arrive in Ramallah at noon via helicopter.
The delegation will be hosted by President of the PFA Jibreel Rajoub, Head of the Palestinian Civil Affairs Department Hussein Ash-Sheikh, Chief Palestinian Negotiator Sa’eb Erekat and members of the PFA.
