Middle East Politics.Net » Football http://middleeastpolitics.net Facts, News, Trends, Analysis Tue, 12 Jan 2010 20:56:32 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 September Meeting During Soccer Match Pays Off http://middleeastpolitics.net/2008/12/05/september-meeting-during-soccer-match-pays-off/ http://middleeastpolitics.net/2008/12/05/september-meeting-during-soccer-match-pays-off/#comments Fri, 05 Dec 2008 23:00:57 +0000 hazzout http://middleeastpolitics.net/?p=3731 Turkish President, Abdullah Gul, and Armenian President, Serzh Sargsyan, were awarded the Peace and Sport Award for their historic meeting which took place in September. The International Peace and Sport Organization boasts on their website that “Thanks to football, this moment marked the end of nearly two decades of diplomatic silence.”

The awards ceremony took place at the International Peace and Sport Forum’s 2008 session in Monaco. Prince Albert II of Monaco presented the award jointly to Mahmut Ozgener, President of the Turkish Football Federation, and to Armen Grigorian, Armenian Minister of Youth and Sport.

The September leaders meeting, which ended in a landmark handshake, took place in Yerevan during a qualifying match for the Football World Cup. Though the two met in a very casual atmosphere, it has begun a warmer period of relations. The two countries still have no diplomatic ties and the border they share, has been closed for more than a decade. Armenia continues to pressure the international community to admit the Armenian Genocide instead of accepting Turkey’s call to investigate the allegations.

Adam Hazzout

]]> http://middleeastpolitics.net/2008/12/05/september-meeting-during-soccer-match-pays-off/feed/ 0 Palestine Football with a Home of Its Own http://middleeastpolitics.net/2008/10/20/palestine-football-with-a-home-of-its-own/ http://middleeastpolitics.net/2008/10/20/palestine-football-with-a-home-of-its-own/#comments Mon, 20 Oct 2008 21:31:57 +0000 yerxa http://middleeastpolitics.net/?p=1510 The blog Soccer News Brief has reported that after 10 years of international eligibility, Palestine will play its first international match in Palestine. In the past, Palestine has played its home matches in Jordan and Qatar.

The new stadium, located in Gaza city, will host its first action against Jordan on the 26th of October. This has the potential to boost not only revenue but also morale in the downtrodden region of Gaza.

Despite this good news, there are still issues for the Palestinian national team. With many players hailing from Gaza, Israel’s travel restrictions have affected the team. Palestine was unable to play in a qualifier match in Singapore because Israel only allows urgent cases to leave Gaza.

Israel could go a long way towards building goodwill in the community if they were to allow Palestine free travel to compete in what is truly the world’s sport.

Gavin Yerxa

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