Pakistan is not travelling to Palestine for the two friendlies scheduled on May 22 and 27 in Ramallah. Israel did not issue an NOC to the Palestine Footaball Association yesterday due to the fragile security situation in the area.
“Yes, the tour has been postponed as the NOC has not been issued as yet. We have also called off the camp today,” Pakistan Football Federation Secretary Col Ahmed Yar Khan Lodhi told ‘The News’ on Monday. “If possible the tour will be rescheduled after consulting with PFA in future,” he said.
“Safety of the players is more important and we should always prepare for such surprises. But I would say, it would have been productive for the preparations of our players ahead of the World Cup qualifiers against Bangladesh had we played the two matches against Palestine,” Lutfi said.
He also added that the federation will reschedule the two matches in the first week of June so that the team can get enough practice.
Palestine Footbal Association Secretary Abdelmajeed Hijjeh has criticised its Pakistani counterparts’ decision to postpone the event, highlighting that the Israeli authorities never refused the NOCs and that the documents are usually issued three to four days before.
“I’ve sent the NOC letters for each player and the Israeli authority will approve of them.”
The postponment of the tour supports Afghanistan's arguement that Palestine should also host the 2nd leg of WCQ v. Afghanistan in a third country. Afghanistan Olympic Committee has already told media both matches on June 29 and July 3 will be played in Tajikistan.
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