FIFA's Blatter: Palestinian-Jordan soccer friendly 'historic event'
Prior to Palestinian national team's first match on home soil, FIFA president meets with Abbas, lays wreath on Arafat's tomb. Jibril Rajub: Match proves Israeli occupation has not defeated determination of Palestinian people
Palestine and Jordan drew a friendly international 1-1 on Sunday in a match which marked the Palestinian national team's first match on home soil.
The match was played on an artificial pitch at a new 6,500 seat stadium near Jerusalem which was packed with fans who came to celebrate the occasion.
Several hundred others stood and watched from the top of cars and from the nearby rooftops outside.
Palestine has played all its matches abroad, mainly in the Gulf, because soccer's world governing body FIFA deemed the Palestinian territories unsafe to host visiting teams.
The event, with hundreds of Palestinian police and security officers present, was attended by FIFA President Sepp Blatter, who is on a four-day tour of the region which also included a visit to Jordan on Saturday and concludes with events in Israel on Monday and Tuesday.
Stadium in east Jerusalem (Photo: AFP)
Prior to the match Blatter met in Ramallah with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who awarded the FIFA chief with the "Al-Quds mark of honor", the highest Palestinian honor.
Blatter also met with Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat and laid a wreath on Yasser Arafat's tomb.
Blatter said he was "proud" to be attending the Palestinian-Jordan international, saying it would be an "historic" event.
While in the Palestinian Authority Blatter also inaugurated the Palestinian women's soccer league, which is named after the late Palestinian leader.
The head coach of the Palestinian team, Izzat Hamza, said prior to the match "I think all of the players have been waiting for this moment. They all wanted to wave the Palestinian flag in front of Blatter."
The game was the culmination of months of tireless work by Jibril Rajub, a general who has headed the Palestinian football federation since May after gaining a reputation for toughness as head of the Palestinian Authority's feared preventive security agency.
"This match is a significant message to the world that the Israeli occupation, the closures and the difficult living conditions have not defeated the determination of the Palestinian people, who keep smiling and believe in a better future," Rajub told AFP.
Palestinian defender Rami abi told Sky News, "We want to show the world that the Palestinian youth is capable of doing things other than terror."
