Hamas slams withdrawal of bid to exclude Israel from FIFA

GAZA CITY, Palestine

Palestinian faction Hamas on Friday slammed the Palestinian Authority (PA)'s decision to withdraw a proposal to suspend Israel's membership in world football governing body FIFA.

"We reject and condemn the PA's decision to withdraw its calls for suspending Israel's FIFA membership," Hamas said in a statement.

"The PA's actions stand in stark contrast to the demands of the Palestinian people, who continue to resist the [Israeli] occupation and reject any form of cooperation with them," Hamas said.

Earlier Friday, at FIFA's annual congress in Zurich, Palestinian Football Association head Jibril Rajoub announced that his country was dropping its bid to have Israel's FIFA membership suspended.

"I decided to drop the [calls for Israel's] suspension, but this doesn't mean I'm forsaking the resistance," Rajoub said.

Explaining the reason behind the decision, Rajoub cited numerous calls by Arab, European and African officials urging him to drop Palestinian requests for suspending Israel's FIFA membership.

The Palestinian Football Association had earlier lodged a formal complaint against Israel's FIFA membership, citing Israeli restrictions on the participation of Palestinian footballers, coaches and referees in regional and international tournaments.

Israel, for its part, attributes the restrictions to "security concerns."

Israel says foiled Palestinian bid to suspend it from FIFA

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday said his government had managed to thwart a Palestinian attempt to have Israel's membership in international football governing body FIFA suspended.

"Our international effort has proven itself and led to the failure of the Palestinian Authority's attempt to oust us from FIFA," Netanyahu said in a statement.

The release was issued after a delegation from the Palestinian Football Association, currently in Zurich for FIFA's annual congress, dropped its bid to have Israel suspended from the international body.

"The State of Israel is interested in a peace that will ensure security for its citizens. But this will not be achieved through coercion and distorting the truth," Netanyahu said.

"The only way to achieve peace is to begin negotiations between the sides," he added.

The Israeli premier went on to describe the Palestinian bid as a "provocation", going on to criticize what he called "unilateral steps that the Palestinians are taking at other international institutions".

Netanyahu added: "So long as they take these steps, they will only push peace further away instead of bringing it closer."