Like the Olympic Games, the Football World Championships can contribute to international understanding. That’s probably what FIFA boss Gianni Infantino had in mind when he went to Israel with a title-grabbing idea. Infantino initially signs there, and then lets the cat or ball out of the bag in a meeting with the Israeli prime minister: if the FIFA boss has his way, a World Cup in Israel and other countries in the region. can be held. 2030s happen. These should be led by the United Arab Emirates, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said after a joint meeting.

“Attitudes, Dreams and Ambitions”

One would have guessed that Infantino would advance into the corner of Israel. Earlier, at a conference of “Jerusalem Post”, when he was asked about the possibility of the World Cup in Israel, he replied that “nothing is impossible”. “You must have dreams, dreams and ambitions,” the 51-year-old insisted, referring to the normalization process between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. “So co-hosting is an option.”

“A choice of co-host”: FIFA boss Gianni Infantino

natural partner?

A realistic option? “Well, I guess we’re not that far off,” says Robert Chatterjee, deputy editor-in-chief of Zenith magazine, which specializes in Middle East topics. Especially since Egypt or Jordan would be a natural partner for the Israelis, as Chatterjee emphasized in an interview with DW. The Israelis could host such a competition, after all, they would have already proved it at the U21 European Championship.

The case is not without competition. South American countries Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay and Chile are also planning a joint application for the tournament in nine years. Four British federations are also preparing a candidate to join Ireland, as announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the spring. Portugal and Spain had already officially registered their interest, and China is also considered a potential applicant. The International Olympic Committee can only dream of such scuffles of candidates.

The tournament is to be awarded in 2024. Following the World Cup in Qatar in the winter of 2022, the 2026 World Cup will take place for the first time with 48 countries including the United States, Canada and Mexico.

test in Qatar

Middle East expert Chatterjee says, “Israel is definitely part of the international league calendar. So the security aspects to be dealt with, the upcoming World Cup in Qatar is “already a litmus test”.

Israel signed diplomatic relations agreements with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in September last year. Previously, only two Arab states, neighboring Egypt and Jordan, had diplomatic relations with Israel. The two Gulf countries abandoned a decades-long line of Arab countries until the conflict with the Palestinians was resolved.

Palestinian Olympic Team: Will They Play in Israel?

Insult

Which brings you to the Palestinians, who took Infantino’s actions very seriously. The Palestinian Football Association canceled a planned meeting with the FIFA president at the last minute in protest. The reason for this was Infantino’s participation in an event at the Tolerance Museum in Jerusalem, which was built on a Muslim cemetery, it said in a statement from the association. It is a “complete disgrace to the values ​​of religious tolerance and peaceful coexistence” for which FIFA also stands. The top football official attended the opening of the Friedman Center for Peace Through Strength at the Tolerance Museum in Jerusalem on Monday. The initiator of the facility is David Friedman, a former US ambassador to Israel and a confidant of former US President Donald Trump. He stands out for a clearly pro-Israeli and settler-friendly policy.

And by then it should have been clear to the FIFA boss what diplomatic parquet he was entering with his World Cup idea. Middle East expert Robert Chatterjee knows that many international football stars like Paul Pogba have already spoken pro-Palestinian.