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del.icio.us Digg It!  new Last update - 17:47 15/11/2006 PA soccer team: No-show at qualifier due to Gaza travel ban By Reuters The head of the Palestinian Football Association said his national team's no-show at an Asian Cup qualifier against hosts Singapore on Wednesday was due to Israel's refusal to allow players to travel from Gaza. Ahmed al-Afifi said the fixture had to be canceled because players could not travel through the Rafah crossing from Gaza to Egypt. He said Israel had also refused to allow team members to take an alternative route via Israel and the occupied West Bank to Jordan for their onward journey to Singapore. They had planned to travel to Singapore on November 12. Advertisement The Israel Defense Forces said it was checking Afifi's statements. Afifi said the Palestinian FA had appealed to world soccer's governing body, FIFA, which he had urged to reschedule the match. "Israel has refused to allow the team to pass through the Erez Crossing to travel to Jordan and from there to Singapore but FIFA insisted that the game must be held on time," Afifi told reporters in Gaza. The Rafah crossing with Egypt has been closed intermittently since June 25 after Palestinian militants killed two IDF soldiers and abducted another in a cross-border attack from Gaza. Palestinian national team captain Saeb Jundeya said he was disappointed. "I had assured all my neighbors and people who asked me whether the game would be held on time that we would travel, but today I have to tell them that we were unable to make it because the occupation [Israel] did not allow it," he said. Neither Singapore nor Palestine - the name FIFA gives the Palestinian team - can qualify for next year's finals as Iraq and 2004 Asian Cup hosts China have already guaranteed their places. The 2007 Asian Cup will be co-hosted by Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia from July 7-29 Bookmark to del.icio.us The killing files A binder in a German office holds details of the systematic mass murder of Jews. Save the children One third of recent sexual assault complaints emerged from Haredi communities.   1.   Forbidden to attend a football match... 18:41  |  Lebanese admirer 15/11/06   2.   typical 20:01  |  oliver 15/11/06   3.   Throw Israel out of International competitions 20:04  |  Chris Linthwaite 15/11/06   4.   Islamo-Terror 20:54  |  h 15/11/06   5.   So when`s the janjaweed militia get a football team? 21:02  |  David Teich 15/11/06   6.   I though the PA controled the Gaza border with Egypt!! 21:22  |  Rami 15/11/06   7.   #6 Rami 21:39  |  Wes 15/11/06   8.   Such pitiful childishness and spite from the Israelis 21:44  |  Clickfool 15/11/06   9.   Israel........Israel........ 00:12  |  T A Sheppard 16/11/06   10.   #4-H- on Islamo Terro 10:26  |  Meir Gush Etzion 16/11/06   11.   Typical 2 13:58  |  JJ 16/11/06   12.   Israel is a sad joke cancer eating at humanity 15:36  |  yallah 16/11/06   13.   11: No, JJ, the collective punishment 10:39  |  David Teich 18/11/06

Today Online Bradley Burston: It's Judeo-Fascism Month in Ithe state of Israel Responses: 6 Daniel Ben-Simon: PM's courage in disclosing his cancer Responses: 1 Moshe Arens: What the Qassams are costing Israel Responses: 5 40 hurt in clash between police, Druze in Galilee Responses: 6 IDF's tactical upper hand over Hamas in Gaza is diminishing Responses: 39 Rosner's Domain * Churchill became more pro-Zionist when Zionism became less popular in England * WTR: The Christian perspective of Ann Coulter * Is Tikkun Olam a substitute for Israel? * Is Haaretz really better than the New York Times? More Headlines 09:47 40 hurt in clash between police, Druze in Galilee 08:23 PM to undergo cancer operation following Annapolis conference 09:14 ANALYSIS: Illness and the press / PM's 'prostate speech' 09:34 IDF's tactical upper hand over Hamas in Gaza is diminishing 09:37 World's Jewish communities to rally for kidnapped IDF soldiers 04:49 Ashrawi: Palestinians face one of most difficult phases in their history 06:45 Land deal would have state, JNF swap 60,000 dunams 01:35 American firms to advise Palestinians on security forces 00:15 Iranian foreign minister meets Hamas officials in Syrian capital 01:44 Teachers, government resume talks to end 18-day-long strike Previous Editions Select Day 29 oct 28 oct 26 oct 25 oct 24 oct 23 oct 22 oct 21 oct 19 oct 18 oct 17 oct 16 oct

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