FIFA president to visit Palestine, Israel

FIFA President Sepp Blatter announced a trip to Israel and Palestine in April as the two countries attempt to build relations between their football associations, the Finland based media firm Finnbay reported Sunday.

The announcement followed a meeting in Zurich between Jerome Valcke, FIFA’s Secretary General, Avi Luzon, the head of the Israeli Football Federation (IFA) and Jibril Al Rajoub, the head of the Palestinian Football Federation (PFA).

During the meeting, both Palestinian and Israeli representatives focused on freedom of movement for players, referees, managers and technical equipment traveling within and outside of Palestine.

Progress was reportedly made during the meeting as both sides agreed that football officials from both Palestine and Israel should increase their contact to make further improvements, a statement released by FIFA read.

FIFA’s ultimate aim is that the two sides will sign a cooperation agreement before its members meet in June ahead of the World Cup.