I don't want to talk about politics, but Israel and Saudi Arabia are almost allied nowadays concerning many things... I think the Saudi are exploiting this in order to have a better chance to take the three points...
of course.... did they not voice concerns about this when the draw was made? Or is it just now? And why did UAE go there then? Totally ridiculous imo, let them forfeit a 3-0 loss then...
Saudis know their influences end in Palestine, and their players show their real quality. They just wanted to avoid embarrassment as they barely got a win in their match against Palestinians in Saudi Arabia.
Timor Leste 0-1 Malaysia (FT) - The Saudis were given three days to explain in writing the reason why they do not want to play in Palestine. In the meantime the fixture has been postponed pending a final ruling. The Palestinian FA have already protested to FIFA president Sepp Blatter about favouritism towards the Saudis and have now taken their case to Asian Football Confederation chief Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim al khalifa. Salman was one of the three members of FIFA's bureau of the World Cup organising committee that sanctioned the switch to neutral ground. But in a letter to the Bahraini, Palestine FA president Jibril Rajoub appeals to him to intervene, warning of "grievous implications" for Palestinian football if the ruling, which has caused uproar among Palestinian supporters, is not reversed. One solution offered to the Saudis by the Palestinians has been to fly the team direct from Amman to Ramallah, thus presumably avoiding potential embarrassing issues with Israeli border police.
Where is above information taken from / given at ?... I looked on the FIFA website but nothing mentioned as above.
I found it in a website call soccerworld or world soccer/ football something like that not the most credible source but it good for some buzz anyways is it true that the Saudi dont want to travel to Timor's game and want UAE to host the game or this is just a joke
The UAEFA has turned down a request by the Saudi FA to host their football match against East Timor on November 17 in the UAE. The UAEFA is keen to see that all the teams of the group have equal chances to play at home and away. And for this purpose, the UAEFA has officially addressed the FIFA of its strong protest against the postpone of the KSA away clash versus Palestine which was originally scheduled on October 13 till further notice or to be rescheduled to another date to be decided after their match against East Timor.
Why Saudi Arabia can't travel to Timor Leste? They are a fuc@ing joke! What a bunch of arrogant people they are!
The Saudis also forced afc to change the ref in their acl semi from an Iranian to a Bahraini. The funny thing is they still lost and then they complained about the ref that they put in at the end.
@ahdaafme: ICYMI: It's been confirmed. Saudi Arabia will play in Palestine on November the 5th. http://m.fifa.com/worldcup/news/y=2...rld-cuptm-qualifier-to-be-played-2719883.html
Withdraw from KSA = automatic administrative win for Palestine (3-0). And maybe more than a financial fee for KSA..
still a 3 way battle between Saudi, UAE and Palestine.. quite interesting group with the final remaining matches..
KSA is risking disqualification from the qualifiers if they protest more and again playing against Timor or Palestine in any ground
Can anyone translate into English following news: http://aawsat.com/home/article/479636/فلسطين-تطلب-مواجهة-«الأخضر»-في-الجزائر
I think you would do it better. Something about Saudi FA asking Palestinians to play the match in Algeria despite earlier FIFA decision which ruled in favour of Palestinians hosting the match in Ramallah. Then some stuff about penalties the Saudis may be facing upon refusal and at the end some comments about Allah yada yada the usual stuff.
Group A descending into administrative chaos The big news this week is that Palestine's game against Saudi Arabia will be taking place after all- and a lot sooner than most pundits had expected. For those not familiar with the series of events- there had been talk of Saudi Arabia refusing to travel to Palestine ever since the group was drawn back in April. After some discussion, it seemed that all was set in place for Palestine to host Saudi Arabia on the opening match day of qualifying. In a very strange set of circumstances, the two FAs decided to switch the dates of their home matches less than a week before the game was set to kickoff. Saudi Arabia ended up winning that match 3-2 thanks to a last gasp goal by Mohammad Al-Sahlawi. Palestine then gave themselves a fighting chance at progression from the group with a 6-0 thumping of Malaysia, followed by a gritty goalless draw at home to the United Arab Emirates. More after the jump.... September Meeting Once again, attention shifted to the Saudi Football Federation who convened with FIFA ExCo member Prince Ali bin Hussein of Jordan and their Palestinian counterparts in Amman. In those meetings Palestine FA President, Jibril Rajoub proposed: Flying the Saudi Arabian team in by helicopter arranged by the Jordanian government. Playing the match in Gaza by arranging entry permits for both teams from the Egyptian government. Saudi Arabia's football chief, Ahmed Eid, refused both measures and the sides agreed to have FIFA arbitrate the issue. The precondition was that both sides would agree to whatever measure FIFA decided to take. Zurich Meeting Initially a committee headed by Michel Platini had ordered the game to be played on neutral ground. According, to PFA President Jibril Rajoub, the decision to invalidate the order was due to the fact that Michel Platini wasn't aware that such a communique was sent. With all sides at an impasse and with the scheduled match fast approaching, FIFA decided to delay the game. The decision to delay the game would be one of Sepp Blatter's last as FIFA President. Ramifications Yesterday, FIFA announced that Palestine would indeed host Saudi Arabia with the game scheduled for November 5th at the Faisal Al-Husseini Memorial Stadium. Should Saudi Arabia refuse to play the match, they would at best be slapped with a 3-0 administrative loss. At worst, their membership in FIFA could be suspended and as a result would be forced out of World Cup and Asian Cup qualifying for the 2018/19 cycle. Other Shenanigans This would not be the first administrative result doled out in Group A. Last month, Malaysia's fans rioted after their team threw away a 1-0 lead late in their game against Saudi Arabia. The 1-2 result was eventually annotated as a 0-3 win for the Saudis. Palestine themselves are looking for their 1-1 result against Timor Leste to be invalidated after it became clear that the Timorean team fielded seven Brazilians with no ostensible connection to the country. Should FIFA rule in favor of Palestine- Timor Leste could see all their results reversed leaving them with zero as opposed to two points in Group A. The most mysterious team in Asia is embroiled in more controversy as they seem to have agreed to give up their home game vs. Saudi Arabia with an eye on reducing costs and travel time. No word yet on the final venue. http://footballpalestine.blogspot.com/2015/10/group-descending-into-administrative.html
Your source shouldn't be taken seriously. Blogs specially from a country that is involved in this incident will be sensational or biased in this case. If you are familiar with the politics in middle east then you know taking these news seriously is a mistake. KSA has a lot of influence in fifa and afc for obvious reasons and Palestine is a poor country. Most of the times a country like Palestine will suffer at the end and KSA walks away nonchalant. I wish fifa upheld justice once in a while and regain some credit.
You could ask bigsoccer member Redstriker about that. He is the author of that blog. He seems to have sources from within the Palestinian FA.
Hearing @saudiFF will officially withdraw from #PLEvKSA. 3-0 administrative win awarded to Palestine. #Russia2018 https://t.co/FW0uC2bGIk— Football Palestine (@FutbolPalestine) November 2, 2015 Source: http://www.arriyadiyah.com/
I don't know but it will make the group wide open. Too bad Palestine tied Timor-Leste. 2 valuable points dropped against a minnow.