Palestine FA President Jibril Rajoub said that Palestine "will seek Israel's expulsion" from FIFA at this month's FIFA Congress, according to Mike Collett of REUTERS. Last year, Rajoub agreed to drop a resolution urging delegates to take sanctions against Israel at FIFA's Congress in São Paulo but he said on Friday that "he would press ahead with the same proposal in Zurich on May 29." He added he "would not make the concessions" he made when withdrawing the proposal a year ago because nothing had improved in the way Israel "were persecuting Palestine footballers, athletes and the movement of sporting equipment." Rajoub said, "Enough is enough. Last year we dropped the resolution when Europe got involved and the Israelis promised to cooperate in improving the situation. But one year on it is still behaving like the neighborhood bully, or worse. ... A year ago I agreed to drop the proposal, I will not do that again. The aggression towards our sportsmen and women in the West Bank and Gaza continues. It is hostile and racist and the time has come to take action." FIFA President Sepp Blatter "has tried to resolve the crisis between the two neighbors." His best efforts "have failed but he will not want the disharmony to blot Congress where he will seek re-election for a fifth term as president" (REUTERS, 5/2).
