The Palestinian national football team withdrew from a friendly tournament in Malaysia to be held between the 13th and 17th of this month, according to what the Malaysian Football Association announced on Tuesday, due to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military arm of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), launched – last Saturday morning – a surprise operation against Israel by land, air and sea, which it called “Al-Aqsa Flood”, which led to the death of at least 900 people inside Israel, and the occupation responded with air and artillery bombardment on the Gaza Strip. 687 Palestinians have been martyred so far.
A statement from the Malaysian Federation said, “The Palestinian team was forced to withdraw from participating in this 42nd edition of the tournament, as it was unable to travel to Kuala Lumpur due to the tense situation at the present time.”
The Palestinian team was scheduled to play in the friendly “Merdeka Cup” in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, but the Palestinian team’s inability to travel led to the cancellation of the opening match against Tajikistan, which was scheduled for next Friday.
The number of participating teams will now be limited to 3 countries: Malaysia, India and Tajikistan. Due to the absence of Palestine, Tajikistan will qualify directly to the final.
The Palestinian national team is scheduled to begin its campaign in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers by facing Australia and Lebanon next month, before participating in the Asian Nations Cup in Qatar next January.
2023-10-10 11:07:49
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