AFC Asian Cup: Palestine footballers want to ‘send message to world’ – conflict at home ‘is painful, but we use it to drive us’

The Palestine national football team want to “share a message with the whole world” at the AFC Asian Cup finals in Qatar.

Head coach Makram Daboub’s side are preparing to open their tournament against Iran at Education City Stadium on Sunday.

But the thoughts of Daboub and his squad rarely stray from events at home, where the Israel offensive on Gaza is wreaking devastation and has led to the deaths of more than 23,000 people, mostly women and children, according to the territory’s health ministry.

The coach of the Palestine Olympic football team, 42-year-old Hani al-Masdar, was last week killed in an air strike, and the country’s FA says 88 athletes, including 67 footballers, have lost their lives in the conflict.

Captain Musab al-Battat, who delivered the players’ oath at Friday’s opening ceremony, a duty traditionally reserved for the hosts’ skipper, told the Post: “We [players] are part of the Palestinian people, and going through the suffering everyone is witnessing.

Daboub’s team begin their campaign against Iran on Sunday, and later tackle Hong Kong in Qatar. Photo: Reuters

“Our people are like any other citizens, but expecting any minute to be killed or injured. I have friends in Gaza, and try my best to stay in contact with them.

“Many players and coaches in Gaza were supposed to be here with us, but because of the conditions it was not possible. We have players whose families are there, and we try as much as possible to support them.

“The players have a message we want to share with the whole world: Palestine is just like any other country, and has the right to participate and be present in any tournament.

“Every Palestinian player, most of the time, follows the news, and tries to make sure his loved ones are safe. It is painful, but we use it to drive us. We wish for this to end soon, and for this tournament to be exceptional for us, so we can put a smile on the faces of people in Palestine. They have waited a long time for this smile.”

Battat said reading the oath at the cavernous Lusail Stadium generated a “feeling I cannot describe with words”. He thanked hosts Qatar for the honour, and for additional demonstrations of solidarity during an opening ceremony that featured Palestinian music and closed with a section of the country’s national anthem.

It is up to Tunisian Daboub, who has lived in Palestine for 15 years, to try to clear his players’ heads for matches against Iran, United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong over the next 10 days.

He has held training camps in Algeria and Saudi Arabia, and insisted his team was “more than capable of achieving something significant … and making our fans and people happy”.

Palestine have not played in their own country since 2019, and in October declared Algeria would be their “home” venue.

Ranked 99 in the world, this is the team’s third Asian Cup finals. They did not win a match at either of the 2015 or 2019 editions, scoring only one goals in six matches, but managed two scoreless draws, with Syria and Jordan, five years ago.

They have won none of their past eight matches, drawing three, and scoring only one goal. They did draw 0-0 with Saudi Arabia in their final warm-up match, and lost a tight World Cup qualifier 1-0 to Australia in November.

“We try very hard to focus,” Daboub said. “Most of the time, the players are following the news. Before training, after training, on the bus, everyone is watching the news.

“We have a huge responsibility on our shoulders, we are ambassadors for Palestine, and we want to send the message that Palestinian people deserve freedom, and to live like others.”

Reflecting on the death of Masdar, Daboub added: “We express our condolences to his family … he was a very competent coach in Palestine. That is what we are going through, we have lost so many excellent people who would have been in our team. Many players in Gaza are not able to join us.”