Argentina Cancels Israel World Cup Friendly After Palestinians Threaten Messi

Argentina’s upcoming friendly with Israel in Jerusalem has been cancelled following protests by Palestinian football authorities.

The South Americans were scheduled to play their final warm-up game against Israel on Saturday, June 9th at the Teddy Stadium, which sits on land, once home to a Palestinian village before it was destroyed by Israeli forces in 1948 during the creation of the state of Israel.

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Teddy Stadium sits on the western part of Jerusalem, while the Palestinians want the eastern part of the city as the capital of their future state. The Jewish state considers the entire city its own “indivisible” capital.

The move to host the match at the stadium had sparked up protests as the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) had in a letter urged Argentina to cancel the friendly football match with the European nation.

Palestinian FA chief Jibril Rajoub had told fans should burn Messi’s photos and shirts if the Barcelona star faced Israel in Jerusalem.

The Palestinians on Monday threatened to torpedo the Latin American country’s bid to host the 2030 World Cup if the match went ahead.

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“The Palestinian Football Family calls upon the Argentinian Football association, and the Argentinian national team, to refrain from being used, by politicians in the Israeli Government, as a tool to normalize the illegal annexation of Occupied East Jerusalem, and to whitewash the Israeli systematic violations of international law and human rights,” the statement read.

By accepting the invitation to play “in the occupied city of Jerusalem,” Argentina risks being considered “unworthy” of hosting the 2030 World Cup, the statement added.

“They’ve finally done the right thing,” striker Gonzalo Higuain said in an interview with ESPN, confirming reports the game had been cancelled.

Israel embassy also confirmed the news, saying that civilians in the area are no longer strangers to the “threats and provocations” aimed at Barcelona star Messi.’

“The Israeli embassy is sad to announce the suspension of the match between the Israel and Argentina national teams scheduled for Saturday June 9, as a warm-up for the Russia World Cup,” the statement read.

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“The threats and provocations directed at Lionel Messi, which logically aroused the solidarity of his colleagues and fear of playing the friendly, are no strangers to the daily life of Israel’s civilian population whose sporting stars, to put it simply, have been on numerous occasions the targets of violence and attacks.

“The friendship between Argentina and Israel, which will soon celebrate its 70th anniversary, is not about a football match. The democratic country and plural state (composed of Jews, Muslims and Christians), will always eagerly await the chance to receive one of the stars of Argentine sport.

Celebrating the cancellation, the Palestinian FA issued a statement thanking Messi and his colleagues for cancelling the game.

“The Palestinian FA thanks Argentina’s players led by star Messi for refusing to be used to serve a non-sporting goal.”

Argentina’s next match is now slated to be their World Cup Group D opener against Iceland on June 16, as the twice World Cup winners only played one warm-up match – a 4-0 win over Haiti on May 30.

The remaining group fixture will see them face Croatia on June 21 and Nigeria on June 26.

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