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Moustafa Zeidan last played a professional football game on October 6th, 2023.
The official story is that newly promoted Hatta FC’s change of managers a month previously had led to a change in tactics and planning. That narrative ignores the fact that Zeidan started half of his games under the newly appointed Fabio Viviani. There were midseason signings which have since proved their worth but Zeidan SofaScore rating of 6.85 remains amongst the ten best in the team and better than that of two foreign players till in the side- Vernon de Marco and Aaron Tshibola.
Perhaps Zeidan is not playing anymore because he was on loan at the club and there was no sunk cost or commitment to the player. It is certainly plausible but why was Zeidan frozen out before new foreign players were brought in?
It seems rather strange. Until you consider the date of his last game.
What has Moustafa Zeidan been doing since the outbreak of Israel’s genocidal campaign on Gaza? Raising awareness, lending his voice to the voiceless. There is not a day that has gone by in the last five months where he has not posted about Gaza.
“What is happening in Gaza is a genocide. A genocide that takes place in 2024 and the whole world watches as Israel does what they do. You have people you know, family, friends there – so it’s a great sadness you wake up with every day.” Zeidan told Fotbolskanlen back in January.
In a separate conversation with the same outlet Zeidan expressed his willingness to stay and fight for his place describing the possibility of a loan cancellation as “small”. That was before the club signed Nigerian Chimsom Egbuchulam and Central African Lobi Manzoki in February.
The midfielder is now officially not one of Hatta FC’s five officially registered foreign players.
For all the mistreatment he suffered Zeidan has not a bad word to say about anyone. A testament to his character
The loan move was designed to give Zeidan playing time while also allowing Malmö to put him in the shop window. The 25 year old’s contract runs until the end of 2026 and his potential was on full display in his first season with the club.
It was not long ago when Zeidan was being touted as a potential Sweden player. The midfielder got his first two caps in January 2023 as a part of a B-team made up of domestic based players. His statistics with Sirius and Malmö in 2022 were a sight to behold. In his first seven games with Malmö he registered three goals and five assists.
Amongst midfielders outside of Europe’s established big leagues, Zeidan one of the best in chance creation and ball progression.
A coaching change meant Zeidan was not enjoying as much playing time in 2023. The club shopped Zeidan around and while there was interest from Odense in Denmark and AIK in the Allsvenskan a transfer did not materialize and a couple of weeks later he went on loan to the UAE Pro League.
Moustafa Zeidan’s quality has always been glaringly evident. Ten years ago he joined Aston Villa’s academy he amassed over twenty caps for Sweden’s youth teams. Followers of Football Palestine will remember this platform advocating for his presence with the national team even after he had to drop to the Swedish third tier to restart his career.
His form in 2022 did lead to genuine interest from the Palestine Football Association but with a Sweden cap in his sights he chose not to answer the call.
Now is the time that the PFA should come back and offer him a place in the national team.
The question is whether or not the well has poisoned by the PFA’s mishandling of his cousin’s nationality switch. Ten years ago, Imad Khalili was all set to represent Al-Fida’i he was the star recruit for a team that had just qualified for the Asian Cup.
Khalili himself told FIFA.com about how eager he was to represent Palestine at the Asian Cup in Australia and then, when squad after squad was announced, he was not included.
Sources within the PFA told Football Palestine that his U-turn was down to the fact that officials had forged his signature on documentation.
Hopefully the transgressions against Zeidan’s cousin will not discourage him from switching his allegiance to Palestine. His misfortune on the pitch will surely be temporary and he has the intangibles that will make him a success with Palestine. The midfielder simply understands what it means to represent the country.
