Palestinian FA ‘thanks’ Messi

The Palestinian Football Association has thanked Barcelona star Lionel Messi and his Argentina teammates after the cancellation of a friendly against Israel.

Argentina have confirmed the cancellation of the game, their final World Cup warm-up match, with Juventus striker Gonzalo Higuain stating on ESPN that by cancelling the match in Jerusalem, the Argentine FA have “finally done the right thing.”

Scheduled to play at Jerusalem’s Teddy Kollek Stadium, the match was called off following growing political pressure.

The Palestinian FA issued a statement thanking Messi and his colleagues for cancelling the game: “The Palestinian FA thanks Argentina’s players led by star Messi for refusing to be used to serve a non-sporting goal.”

The Palestinian FA chairman, Jibril Rajoub, added, as cited by Reuters: “Values, morals and sport have secured a victory today and a red card was raised at Israel through the cancellation of the game.”

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