Hey, if this works, we may finally achieve peace in the Middle East, right?
Here are the details from The Athletic:
FIFA is proposing that the opening match of their inaugural under-15s football festival should be Israel against Palestine.
I'm sure this will work out!
I'm not exactly sure why FIFA lets a fake country compete against real countries, but it's their tournament, so, whatever.
FIFA hope for the festival to get underway with a match between Israel and Palestine, according to sources with knowledge of the plans, which follows on from Gianni Infantino's failed attempt to get representatives from their football federations to shake hands and pose for a photo together on the stage at the organization's annual congress on April 30.
Since he couldn't get the grownups to stand together for a photo-op, he's going to try to force the kids to face one another in a symbolic match. Again, I'm sure this will end well.
Judging by the comment section under the tweets about this announcement, I bet the fan interactions will be mostly peaceful as well!
In another attempt to broker peace, FIFA's proposal is for the respective Israeli and Palestinian Under-15s to play against each other. Israel has committed to expanding its control of Palestinian territories despite a cease-fire with Hamas, per the New York Times.
'Our FA President, Moshe Zuares, will stick to what he said publicly several times at FIFA congress and everywhere β we are more than ever willing to use football as an instrument to promote normalization and peace,' a spokesperson for the IFA told The Athletic.
'Our hands are always extended for a better future for everyone. We hope to find a brave partner on the other side'.
They're really trying to solve all of the world's problems through soccer, and you've gotta admire their optimism.
The U-15 tournament will take place in the United States in 2027, and neither Israel nor Palestine have officially announced if they will be participating in the tournament at all, much less whether they would be amenable to playing one another.
Meet you back here for the riots in 2027!
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