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FIFA President Gianni Infantino is set to arrive for a historic visit to Palestine next Sunday, Wafa news agency has reported.
The President of the Palestinian Football Association (PFA), Jibril Rajoub, told a press conference in the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem that Infantino will be accompanied by three members of the Executive Committee of football's world governing body: former Egyptian footballer Hani Abu Rida; Yasser Al-Mishal, President of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation; and Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Bin Ahmed Al-Thani, President of the Qatar Football Association.
Infantino, added Rajoub, will be received officially by Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh at the presidential headquarter in Bethlehem before attending a friendly international match between Palestine and Jordan at Al-Khader Stadium. The stadium will be renamed after the late Brazilian footballer Pelé on the 75th anniversary of the Nakba (Catastrophe).
Rajoub expressed his hope that the international visitors will leave Palestine fully aware of the challenges that the Palestinian people face under the yoke of Israeli apartheid and settler colonialism, and be convinced that Palestinians are capable and ready to build an independent state with sport as one of its main public sectors.
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