The UAE’s hopes of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia received a blessing in disguise on Tuesday when Saudi Arabia pulled out of Thursday’s qualifier with Palestine in Ramallah over safety fears.
The Saudi Arabia Football Federation (SAFF) on Tuesday sent a letter to Fifa “in which it announced withdrawing from the match against Palestine scheduled for Thursday,” spokesman Adnan Al Moaibed said. He said the letter explains the SAFF’s decision is based on concerns over the security situation in the Palestinian Territories and the safety of the Saudi delegation.
The matter will now be passed on to Fifa’s disciplinary committee, who could issue a wide range of punishments but is most likely to result in awarding Palestine a 3-0 victory and a substantial fine for the Saudis, although there remains an outside chance that Fifa might disqualify Saudi Arabia altogether if they are not satisfied with the SAFF’s reasoning for not playing the match.
Should Fifa award Palestine a 3-0 victory, and thus three points, it would put them ahead of the UAE in the five-team group, which counts as qualifying for both the 2018 World Cup and the 2019 Asian Cup.
Saudi Arabia are currently top of Group A with a maximum 12 points from four games; the UAE are second on seven points with Palestine on five.
Only the top team in each group qualifies automatically for the final round of qualifying, while the four best runners-up from the eight groups also progress.
However, while the UAE would drop behind Palestine initially, they also now have a better chance of making up ground on Saudi Arabia and taking top spot.
Mahdi Ali’s side host East Timor on November 12 in Abu Dhabi before travelling to Malaysia five days later as the Saudis face East Timor away. The UAE can make up at least three points on their Gulf rivals ahead of what is likely to be a group decider in Abu Dhabi next March. Palestine also have to travel to Abu Dhabi.
Yesterday’s decision came after several months of uncertainty from the SAFF.
Saudi Arabia were initially scheduled to travel to Palestine in June, but they refused to travel to the Israeli-occupied West Bank, citing undefined “exceptional circumstances”.
Many Arab national teams refuse to play in the West Bank, saying it “normalises” Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory. Saudi Arabia has no diplomatic relations with the Jewish state.
The match was switched to Jeddah, with Saudi Arabia winning 3-2, on the understanding that the return leg would be played in Ramallah. However, on September 23 the Saudi federation demanded that it be played on neutral ground.
Initially Fifa accepted the request but the Palestinian Football Federation objected and Fifa ultimately reverted to their initial decision and announced the match would be played in the last international break on October 13 in Palestine.
The Saudi federation managed to postpone the match one more time before Fifa insisted that the match would take place in Palestine this week.
akhaled@thenational.ae
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