Politics and sport should be kept separate. But the Israelis clearly didn’t get that memo. Next week, Palestine’s football team will make history when it takes on the UAE in a World Cup qualifier – in the West Bank itself.
Although Palestine’s team has played World Cup qualifiers before, it has never played on home soil. That they will play in the West Bank represents a significant victory in the international movement to pressure Israel over its occupation.
For years, Israel has overtly and covertly hindered the development of Palestinian football. When, ahead of the 2006 World Cup, Palestine topped its qualifying group, Israel refused to allow most of the team members to travel. Denial of travel permits – due to Israel’s continued occupation of the West Bank and Gaza – has been used repeatedly to scupper the team’s chances.
Such overt interference is coupled with the general horrors of the occupation. Football stadiums have been repeatedly bombed by Israel, players have been arrested and held without charge or trial, others have been shot or killed simply because they were Palestinian. In Gaza, the years-long blockade means sports people can’t access the right type of food or the latest training facilities. So much for keeping politics and sport separate.
It was for all of those reasons that the international campaign to kick Israel out of Fifa began and rapidly gained worldwide traction. Indeed, this match would not have come about without it. It was only in May, in a bid to head off his country’s expulsion, that Israel’s prime minister agreed to facilitate travel for Palestinian players and a new joint football committee was agreed.
This match, then, is a test for Israel’s commitment to adhere to international agreements. Will Israel allow all the Palestinian players in Gaza to travel? Will last-minute “security” reasons mean some are held up? Unsurprisingly, anyone who has followed Israel’s cruel and duplicitous policies towards the Palestinians will be expecting the worst. If it goes ahead without a hitch, the match will hopefully be the beginning of a more positive relationship between Israel and the outside world, where politics really is kept out of sport.
If you go
The flights
There are direct flights from Dubai to Sofia with FlyDubai (www.flydubai.com) and Wizz Air (www.wizzair.com), from Dh1,164 and Dh822 return including taxes, respectively.
The trip
Plovdiv is 150km from Sofia, with an hourly bus service taking around 2 hours and costing $16 (Dh58). The Rhodopes can be reached from Sofia in between 2-4hours.
The trip was organised by Bulguides (www.bulguides.com), which organises guided trips throughout Bulgaria. Guiding, accommodation, food and transfers from Plovdiv to the mountains and back costs around 170 USD for a four-day, three-night trip.
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COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
Tips for taking the metro
- set out well ahead of time
- make sure you have at least Dh15 on you Nol card, as there could be big queues for top-up machines
- enter the right cabin. The train may be too busy to move between carriages once you're on
- don't carry too much luggage and tuck it under a seat to make room for fellow passengers
Schedule for show courts
Centre Court - from 4pm UAE time
Johanna Konta (6) v Donna Vekic
Andy Murray (1) v Dustin Brown
Rafael Nadal (4) v Donald Young
Court 1 - from 4pm UAE time
Kei Nishikori (9) v Sergiy Stakhovsky
Qiang Wang v Venus Williams (10)
Beatriz Haddad Maia v Simona Halep (2)
Court 2 - from 2.30pm
Heather Watson v Anastasija Sevastova (18)
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (12) v Simone Bolelli
Florian Mayer v Marin Cilic (7)
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champioons League semi-final:
First leg: Liverpool 5 Roma 2
Second leg: Wednesday, May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
TV: BeIN Sports, 10.45pm (UAE)
Ticket prices
- Golden circle - Dh995
- Floor Standing - Dh495
- Lower Bowl Platinum - Dh95
- Lower Bowl premium - Dh795
- Lower Bowl Plus - Dh695
- Lower Bowl Standard- Dh595
- Upper Bowl Premium - Dh395
- Upper Bowl standard - Dh295
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
The bio
Date of Birth: April 25, 1993
Place of Birth: Dubai, UAE
Marital Status: Single
School: Al Sufouh in Jumeirah, Dubai
University: Emirates Airline National Cadet Programme and Hamdan University
Job Title: Pilot, First Officer
Number of hours flying in a Boeing 777: 1,200
Number of flights: Approximately 300
Hobbies: Exercising
Nicest destination: Milan, New Zealand, Seattle for shopping
Least nice destination: Kabul, but someone has to do it. It’s not scary but at least you can tick the box that you’ve been
Favourite place to visit: Dubai, there’s no place like home
The specs
Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
Power: 150hp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: From Dh139,000
On sale: Now
The specs: 2019 BMW i8 Roadster
Price, base: Dh708,750
Engine: 1.5L three-cylinder petrol, plus 11.6 kWh lithium-ion battery
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power: 374hp (total)
Torque: 570Nm (total)
Fuel economy, combined: 2.0L / 100km
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Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
Leap of Faith
Michael J Mazarr
Public Affairs
Dh67
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
