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Israel to complain to FIFA about match cancellation

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The Israeli Football Association (FA) is to submit a formal complaint to Football’s world governing body, FIFA after the cancellation of a friendly match against Argentina this weekend.

Rotem Kamer, Vice President of the Israeli FA, accused the Palestinian FA of “football terror” and pressuring Argentinian players and staff into cancelling the match. “We are seeing it as crossing a red line and we cannot accept it,” he said.

Claudio Tapia, the President of the Argentine Football Association, told news reporters at their pre-tournament training camp in Barcelona that “unfortunately we cannot come to Israel in the current situation. What has happened in the last 72 hours, the actions, the threats that have occurred have led us to take the decision not to travel”.

Tapia apologised for the decision, which he hoped made a “contribution to world peace,” and said that it “had nothing against the Israeli community, the Jewish community”.

Israeli Sports and Culture Minister Miri Regev said in a press conference that “the game was cancelled for only one reason — the threats to the lives of Messi and his family.” She showed photos of the “bloodied” shirts, and said “these are photos of terror elements threatening the lives of Messi, his family and the (other) Argentina team members. This is an old-new terrorism, which scares and deters and terrorises sportsmen. This is the same terrorism that caused the (1972) Munich massacre. These are real threats from terror.

Senior Hamas official Husam Badran said the decision by the Argentinian FA “with the Israeli Occupation’s team is highly commendable and is a very appreciated position”.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said “There are values that are even bigger than Messi. The politicisation in the Argentinian decision is of great concern. Even in the most difficult times, we made every effort to leave considerations that are not purely about sport off the playing field, and it is a pity that the Argentina team did not manage to do so on this occasion.”