Jibril Rajoub has been found to have incited hatred against Lionel Messi after CAS rejected his appeal against a 12-month ban.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport has rejected the Palestine Football Association president's appeal against a 12-month ban for "inciting hatred and violence" against Lionel Messi.
Messi hatred punished
Ahead of Argentina's scheduled pre-World Cup friendly against Israel in June 2018, Jibril Rajoub spoke out about the match amid the conflict and political tension between Israelis and Palestinians.
The match was due to take place in Teddy Stadium, Jerusalem, a ground built on land said to have belonged to a Palestinian village before its destruction in 1948.
Rajoub urged fans to target Messi and incited them to burn shirts bearing the Barcelona star's name, with the match ultimately being cancelled.
FIFA received a complaint from the Israeli Football Association and Rajoub was given a 12-month ban from all matches at any level until August 23, 2019, while also being fined 20,000 Swiss francs (€18,056).
His appeal to FIFA was rejected in September, two months before he raised the case with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Rajoub has again been unsuccessful in fighting the punishment, with the CAS panel adjudging him to have "failed to establish that any procedural violations were committed in the proceedings before the FIFA disciplinary committee... that could justify the annulment of such decisions".
CAS, in its statement, added: "Accordingly, the CAS panel dismissed the appeal and confirmed FIFA appeal committee decision of 24 September 2018."
HalaHussein007
64
Let's break this on two levels First one: On the political level, I support the Palestinians. Just like the enemy of my enemy is my friend, the friend of my enemy is my enemy. Now you might say that Messi is just there to represent his country. I agree, but Messi also has good relations with Israel, so that's why some Palestinians hate his opinions. It is not about football, but politics and beliefs. By playing this match, Messi, very very popular, is promoting Israel as a legal country on the world stage, wich I am not afraid of saying on this app, is wrong because Israel is a fake country built on the blood and souls of men who rightfully occupied this Holy land. Palestinians are opposed to such promotion and are ready to do anything to stop it. I am from 🇱🇧 and hear those kind of news and much worse all day long. Second One: on the football side of things, I agree that burning Messi's jersey is completely disrespectful to one of the GOATs of the beautiful game, and FIFA and CAS's decision to ban Jibril are justified only on the football view of this situation. But that's what happens when politics are mixed with sports. Whatever is the outcome of this, bear that in mind: Palestine WILL BE FREE, and the corrupted state of Israel will fall to they very ground they stole from the innocent people of Palestine.