October 10 – Palestine has withdrawn from a friendly tournament in Malaysia because of the war between Israel and Hamas, the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) said on Tuesday.
The Palestinians had been due to play in the Merdeka Cup, a tournament that features the hosts, India and Tajikistan this month. An FAM statement said: “The Palestinian team had to withdraw from participating in this 42nd edition because they could not fly to Kuala Lumpur due to the tense situation in the country at the moment.”
“The format change is the best solution that has been reached at a special meeting between FAM as the organizer of the 2023 Independence Cup with the management of the Indian and Tajikistan teams, this morning after taking into account the time constraints following the withdrawal of the Palestinian team.”
With the escalating conflict in Gaza, it is unclear what will happen to Palestine’s World Cup qualifiers, including a match against Australia, next month.
Gaza’s health ministry put Palestinian casualty figures as at least 770 killed and 4,000 wounded by Israeli airstrikes since Saturday. Israeli media reported that Hamas fighters killed about 900 people inside Israel during the weekend incursion.
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