FC Barcelona confirms: No friendly match against Israeli team in Jerusalem

Barcelona (QNN)- President of FC Barcelona Joan Laport has confirmed that the club has no planned football match against the Israeli team of Beitar in Jerusalem over the Summer.

In a letter sent to the head of the Palestine Football Association Jibril Rajoub, Laport said that the club has not publicly released any official statements through its official channels confirming the holding of a friendly football match against the Israeli team Beitar.

It said that the friendly match on August 4 was planned in the Malha district, the site of a Palestinian village that was ethnically cleansed by Zionist paramilitaries in the run-up to the establishment of ‘Israel’ in 1948.

The match was supposed to be held between Barcelona and Beitar Jerusalem. The latter is well-known for having the most racist fans, who chant “death to Arabs” slogans during games.

“We have received the letter which you sent on behalf of the Palestine Football Association, in which you conveyed your concerns about the FC Barcelona’s presumed activity of a friendly game in Jerusalem.” said President of FC Barcelona in his letter to Rajoub.

He stressed that FC Barcelona has not announced the team’s schedule for the current season through its official channels and that the clubs has not contacted, nor affirmed the holding of any friendly match in Jerusalem.

He stressed that FC Barcelona as a democratic sports institution committed to basic rights and principles, has always expressed through actions – as the club’s history confirms – its clear defense of the rights and freedoms of all peoples of the earth.

Lately, Rajoub sent a letter to the world governing body FIFA, in which he stated that Jerusalem has been declared a divided city in a United Nations resolution and that Barcelona’s planned opponents Beitar Jerusalem are a racist club.

“Although we do not have the right to tell any club how to organize its friendly matches, we have the right to object to the choice of Jerusalem as the venue for the proposed match,” Rajoub said in the letter, which was also addressed to football’s European and Asian governing bodies, UEFA and AFC.

“According to international law, Jerusalem is a divided city and its eastern part is considered occupied Palestinian land, which gives the Palestinian Football Association jurisdiction over any football activities that take place in this part,” he continued.