In ‘solidarity’ with Palestinians, Algerian Football Federation suspends upcoming matches
By Thomas Schlachter and Ben Morse, CNN
(CNN) — The Algerian Football Federation (FAF) has suspended all its soccer matches amidst the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group, Hamas.
The FAF announced on Wednesday the suspensions were a way of showing “solidarity” with Palestinians.
“Expressing its solidarity with the resistant brotherly Palestinian people and out of respect for the memories of the venerable and glorious martyrs [and] victims of the savage Zionist attacks committed in the Gaza sector against the populations in occupied Palestine, the Algerian Football Federation has decided to suspend all football competitions and matches, until further notice,” the FAF statement read.
The declaration comes just days after the FAF offered to host all of the Palestinian national team’s upcoming international fixtures following the escalation of the decades-old conflict.
“The Algerian Football Federation, in accordance with the directives of the country’s high authorities and following the request made by the President of the Palestinian Football Federation, Mr. Jibril Rajoub, has decided to host in Algeria all official and unofficial matches as part of the preparation of the Palestinian football team for the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup and the 2027 Asian Cup of Nations and to cover all costs related to these events,” the statement released Sunday read.
The FAF said it will be hosting the Palestinian national team’s next home game, a 2026 World Cup qualifier against Australia scheduled for November 21.
It comes amid Israel’s ongoing siege of Gaza, which has led to the deaths of over 3,500 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The Israeli strikes in Gaza followed a large-scale terror attack in Israel carried out by Hamas on October 7 that killed 1,400 people in the country, according to Israeli officials.
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