Palestine football chief to fight FIFA ban for inciting hatred

The head of the Palestinian Football Association says he will contest a year-long ban from the sport imposed by world governing body FIFA for calling on fans to burn jerseys and pictures of Lionel Messi.

"We will go to the appeals court and to the FIFA sport court of appeals and to Swiss and European courts after we have exhausted the legal FIFA system," Jibril Rajoub said Monday at a press conference in Ramallah.

The decision was "unfair" and "politically motivated," he claimed.

FIFA's disciplinary committee last month found Rajoub guilty of "inciting hatred and violence" for calling on fans to target the Argentinian Football Association and its national team captain Messi ahead of a pre-World Cup friendly match against Israel scheduled for June 9. The match was later cancelled.

Rajoub, who is also president of the National Olympic Committee of Palestine, cannot attend matches or competitions in any official capacity during his ban and was also fined 20,000 Swiss francs (20,300 dollars).

However, Rajoub can remain president of the Palestinian association and attend FIFA meetings.