Jewish Association Pressures Socceroos to Ditch Palestine Match

The Football Federation Australia (FFA) has come under pressure from the  Australian Jewish Association (AJA) to boycott an upcoming fixture against Palestine.

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"The Australian national football team (the Socceroos) should not play Palestine in the Asian Confederation Cup 2019 this Friday, January 11, 2019, in the United Arab Emirates," a press release from the AJA read.

The organization is demanding that the football team not honor their Group B encounter in Dubai Friday, stating that Palestine should not have been allowed to join the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in the first place.

The AJA accuses the AFC of antisemitism, saying the football organization has placed politics in football by allowing Palestine to become a member of the federation.   

"Soccer is being blatantly politicized by the Asian Football Confederation as  Palestine is not a country recognized by the international community, the AJA release stated.

Palestine was admitted to FIFA in 1998 before qualifying for their first Asian Cup in 2015, in Australia. Israel, on the other hand, has been kicked out of the regional federation.

Palestine played to a 0-0 draw with Syria in their first fixture of the Asian Cup, while Australia suffered a 0-1 loss in against Jordan.