AFC Asian Cup: Palestine footballers want to ‘send message to world’ – conflict at home ‘is painful, but we use it to drive us’

Head coach Makram Daboub insists team can do well in Qatar and hopes they can bring a little relief to people in Palestine

Players glued to news from home, with captain Musab Al-Battat saying: ‘Our people are like any other citizens but expecting any minute to be killed or injured’

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A Palestine fan attends the Qatar v Lebanon match on Friday. Photo: Reuters

Published: 5:00pm, 14 Jan 2024Updated: 8:26pm, 14 Jan 2024

The Palestine national football team want to “share a message with the whole world” at the AFC Asian Cup finals in Qatar.

Head coach Makram Daboub’s side are preparing to open their tournament against Iran at Education City Stadium on Sunday.

But the thoughts of Daboub and his squad rarely stray from events at home, where the Israel offensive on Gaza is wreaking devastation and has led to the deaths of more than 23,000 people, mostly women and children, according to the territory’s health ministry.

The coach of the Palestine Olympic football team, 42-year-old Hani al-Masdar, was last week killed in an air strike, and the country’s FA says 88 athletes, including 67 footballers, have lost their lives in the conflict.

Captain Musab al-Battat, who delivered the players’ oath at Friday’s opening ceremony, a duty traditionally reserved for the hosts’ skipper, told the Post: “We [players] are part of the Palestinian people, and going through the suffering everyone is witnessing.

Daboub’s team begin their campaign against Iran on Sunday, and later tackle Hong Kong in Qatar. Photo: Reuters

“Our people are like any other citizens, but expecting any minute to be killed or injured. I have friends in Gaza, and try my best to stay in contact with them.