“They are professionals in Egypt, but their families are in Gaza and their houses were destroyed”: Players of the Palestinian national team
The Palestinian national soccer team and its Tunisian coach Makram Daboub are currently hardly thinking about football, even in the training camp in Doha: “They are anxious all the time and think about their families,” Daboub reported to the news agency AFP. Less than two weeks before the start of the Asian Cup in Qatar (from January 12th to February 10th), his team’s head is somewhere else. Whether before or after training, in the hotel or on the bus – “everyone follows the news,” said the Tunisian.
Nevertheless, the team should start the tournament as well as possible on January 14th against Iran at the Education City Stadium in Al-Rayyan. The Palestinian team’s other opponents in Group C are the United Arab Emirates (January 18) and Hong Kong (January 23).
However, according to coach Daboub, the team not only has physical but also technical and tactical problems due to the “lack of competitions,” not to mention the mental side. People in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have been subjected to subsequent Israeli retaliation since the October 7 massacres by Islamist Hamas and other Palestinian militants on Israeli soil.
Daboub reported that many players in the team like Mahmoud Wadi and Muhammad Saleh were suffering: “They are professionals in Egypt, but their families are in Gaza and their houses were destroyed.” Some of their relatives were “killed or driven away.” Relatives of other players also had to flee.
The responsible organizing committee for the Asian Championship had already announced in November that it would donate ticket revenue to aid projects for the Palestinians affected by the conflict. The Gulf state of Qatar, the much-criticized 2022 World Cup venue, is hosting the continental championship for the third time.
The Palestinian team wants to survive the group phase there. At the last Asian Championships in 2019, it was over after the group phase. Of course the goal is to reach the next rounds, said Daboub. They want to “show an honorable face of Palestinian football.”
But this time, in Palestine’s third participation, it’s about more than just football for Daboub and his team. Rather, “raising the Palestinian flag” alone is important in international competitions, the trainer emphasized. It means “a confirmation of Palestinian identity” and makes it clear that the people there “deserve freedom and a better life.”
