February 4th, 2024: This Week in Palestinian Football

The Run at the Asian Cup comes to an end. Transfers come to fruition. Plus a weird friendly in South Africa set to take place.

The Asian Cup is over for Palestine and as such we have returned to the normal cadence of things. For those new to Football Palestine, premium subscribers get access to two pieces of exclusive content. A weekly newsletter and a weekly video which sometimes features an exclusive interview with a national team player.

Before I give my thoughts on the Asian Cup campaign. Let us wrap up some of the latest news and transfers that have happened during and after the continental showpiece.

Palestine to participate in useless friendly

When Jibril Rajoub tries to get involved he usually bungles things royally. It is best that the aspiring President of the Palestinian Authority and current President of the Palestine Footall Association sticks to pilfering funds in silence.

Instead, Rajoub has sought to make a big political statement whilst not understanding the basics of football. Yes, Palestine could and should play Ireland or South Africa but there is the small matter of FIFA windows. A match against Ireland or South Africa could have been held at any time in 2022 or early 2023 but with World Cup qualifiers congesting the schedule- it is a near impossibility.

That has not stopped Jibril Rajoub from organizing a friendly in South Africa. The dates had to be pushed back because upon announcing the friendly both teams were still participating in AFCON and the Asian Cup. Now the matches are set to take place on February 11th and 18th against an “invitational side”. If the people at the PFA have any sense in them they would only take goalkeepers Naim Abu Aker, Baraa Kharoub, and perhaps defender El-Mehdi Issa to Capetown and call up a squad of promising WBPL players.

Transfers Galore