OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — The owner of Israeli football club
Beitar
Jerusalem announced Thursday the cancellation of a friendly with Barcelona, a fixture purportedly scheduled for August 4.
اضافة اعلان
"I am forced to cancel the match
against Barcelona," due
to Barcelona's
"politically motivated" refusal to play in Jerusalem, Beitar owner
Moshe Hogeg said in a post on Facebook.
"I bought Beitar out of love for the
holy city and if I back down from playing in Jerusalem because of political
motives, I would not be acting in line with my principles," Hogeg added.
He said Barcelona would only agree to play the game in the coastal
city of Tel Aviv.
Sources at Barcelona however told AFP that the Spanish club consider
various options for pre-season friendlies, but that a proposed meeting with
Beitar Jerusalem was never confirmed.
The
Palestinian Football Federation had
condemned holding the fixture in Jerusalem, according to Palestinian news
agency Wafa.
Israel claims
the whole of Jerusalem as its undivided capital.
East Jerusalem was occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day war and was later annexed by the
Jewish state, in a move never internationally recognised. It is claimed by the
Palestinians as the capital of their own future state.
Beitar Jerusalem had proposed that the
fixture take place at the Teddy Stadium, in the western part of the city.
Beitar Jerusalem play in Israel's top division and some supporters have regularly been
heard booing Arab players on opposing teams, while also insulting the Prophet
Mohammed.
The club says it has worked to clean up its
image in recent years, and in 2017 received an award from President Reuven
Rivlin for battling against racism.
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