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Fifa president Gianni Infantino’s try and orchestrate a handshake between Israel and Palestine football officials failed spectacularly in a heated moment on the Fifa Congress.
Infantino invited the president of the Palestinian football federation Jibril Rajoub to hitch him on stage alongside Israel FA Vice-President Basim Sheikh Suliman in Vancouver.
Each men had spoken in front of a whole bunch of delegates, with Suliman remaining in stage after his address.
After inviting Rajoub back on stage, Infantinio called for each men to face closer to him with Rajoub declining the photo op, making his protests known. Unperturbed, Infantino put his hand on Rajoub’s arm and gestured for him to return closer again.
As Suliman stood motionless, Infantino and Rajoub’s conversation grew more impassioned conversation with the words largely not audible to those within the room or watching Fifa’s live stream.
Asked what Rajoub said when he refused, Palestinian FA Vice-President Susan Shalabi, who was within the room, told Reuters: ‘I cannot shake the hand of somebody the Israelis have dropped at whitewash their fascism and genocide. We’re suffering.’
Because the two delegates stood apart, Infantino returned to the rostrum alone.
‘Let me please say something,’ Infantino said. ‘Let me thank the 2 representatives from Israel and from Palestine, who’ve the identical rights, duties and obligations, who’re members of FIFA. We are going to work together, let’s work together to provide hope to the kids, let’s work together for that.
‘Now we have a stupendous under-15 tournament coming up, where we’ll invite all 211 countries to participate, all the kids of the world, let’s do it for that. Let’s work together, you’ve got my commitment, you’ve got the support of the entire room.’
Infantino then hugged each men individually as they left the stage.
Infantino went onto confirm his intentions to face for re-election for a 3rd fill term as Fifa president next yr.
But his attempts to orchestrate the he handshake were described as ‘absurd’.
Palestinian FA Vice-President Shalabi said: ‘To be put able where to have a handshake after every little thing that was said, this negates the entire purpose of the speech that the final (Rajoub) was giving.
‘He spent like quarter-hour trying to elucidate to everyone how the principles matter, how this might easily turn into a precedent where the rights of member associations are violated with impudence, after which we’ll just wrap this under the carpet. It was absurd.’
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