Palestine drops motion against Israel
The duel between incumbent Sepp Blatter and Prince Ali bin al Hussein was to go into a second round when Blatter fell seven votes short of the required majority. Blatter, seeking a fifth term, got 133 votes in the first round, with 140 needed for the two thirds majority. Bin al Hussein got 73. Bin al Hussein, however, pulled out after the first round loss, paving way for Blatter to be re-elected to a fifth term, without having to stretch the fight into the second round. Ahead of the voting, Blatter, who joined FIFA in 1975, said he felt that he had only been at FIFA for a short time. “What is time anyway. I find that the time I have spent at FIFA is very short,” he said, “The more one ages the more time flies by quickly. I am with you, and I would like to stay with you,” he said.
The Palestine Football Association (PFA) dropped its motion on Friday asking for Israel to be suspended by FIFA.
The motion had been included on the agenda at the FIFA Congress but PFA president Jibril Rajoub said he had been persuaded to back down. “I decided to drop the suspension but it does not mean that I give up the resistance,” he said.
The PFA has accused Israel of hampering its activities and restricting the movement of players between the Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Israel cites security concerns for the restrictions it imposes and the country’s football association has argued that it has no control over security forces.
Soccer’s world governing body has been trying to settle the matter for two years and Blatter this month travelled to the region and meet Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas.
“A lot of colleagues who I respect and I appreciate explained to me how it is painful for them to hear in this family about the issue of suspension,” said Rajoub.