As a result of the events of October 7th, 2023 Palestine have yet to play a home match during World Cup qualification. In fact, the last home match for Al-Fida’i was held five years ago in October of 2019 with the Coronavirus Pandemic denying Palestinian fans the ability to support their team for half of the 2022 World Cup qualification and the entirety of the 2023 Asian Cup qualification campaign.
An all out war and the Gaza genocide meant Palestine lost the ability to host six World Cup qualification matches in Rounds Two and Three on the road to United 2026.
Kuwait City, Doha, Kuala Lumpur, and most recently Amman have stepped in to provide a home away from home for the Palestine national team.
Palestine and Iraq were due to play in Jordan on March 25th but the location was the subject of much consternation in Iraqi circles.
Earlier this week, Iraq’s Football Association (IFA) put out a press release stating that they had informed FIFA of their objection to playing in Jerusalem. The press release states:
“The Iraqi Football Association would like to clarify that FIFA has asked the Palestine Football Association… to change the location of the match from Faisal Al-Husseini Stadium in the Palestinian city of Ramallah [sic]. FIFA has also assured that our national team’s match against its Palestinian hosts will be played on nuetral territory that does not pertain to any team in Group B.”
The press release runs contrary to earlier promises made by the IFA last year.
In the summer of 2024, The Iraqi FA along with all the other teams in Group B put out a press release affirming their readiness to play in Palestine. It was strange timing given that hosting football matches seemed an impossibility. To this day, the genocide in Gaza and increasing settler fueled violence in the West Bank has meant the WBPL has yet to resume.
Jordan made sense as an alternate location for the Palestine national football team as they would avoid traveling after their game against the Nashama on October 20th. The fact that the team got a positive result against Korea in Amman also buoyed its candidacy.
The Iraqi media, fans, and even Younes Mahmoud who serves as vice president of the IFA refused citing a FIFA rule that allegedly prevents a neutral ground to be the home ground of another team in the group.
There are of course may precedents that show that not to be the case. In the ongoing 2026 World Cup qualification campaign, Iran hosted Qatar in UAE when Tehran was deemed unsafe. A reading of the regulations laid out by FIFA shows no such statute:
“in exceptional situations where the visiting team cannot enter the host country due to circumstances of force majeure, the host association shall secure an alternative venue,previously approved by the confederation and subject to final approval by FIFA.”
PFA President Jibril Rajoub was in Baghdad last week and met with his counterpart and gave two wildly different messages. To the official IFA page he made no mention of the match or where it would be held.
Shortly after that a reporter from Al-Hakam Al-Rab’e asked about the match’s venue. The 71 year old former head of the Preventitive Security forces reverted to his brash self, doubling down not on Amman as a neutral location but on Jerusalem.
In regards to the IFA statement posted above Rajoub said it was “a lie and a fabrication” and that the Palestine FA was still awaiting a final response from FIFA.
A decision from FIFA is expected to be made some time next week. If Jerusalem and Amman are deemed unacceptable options, Palestine will likely play host to Iraq in Doha.
