Mandatory Palestine national football team

Football was introduced to Palestine by the British military during its occupation of the territory in World War I. After the war, the sport's development was continued primarily by European Jews who had been exposed to football in their native countries.^[1] In August 1928, Yosef Yekutieli, a leader of the Jewish sports organization Maccabi World Union, founded the Palestine Football Association (PFA).^[2][3] The PFA was accepted into FIFA on 6 June 1929, following an application by the Jewish Maccabi World Union. It became the first of 14 sports organisations in Palestine to gain international recognition and served as a hub for hundreds of leading sportsmen who immigrated to the region in the wake of rising antisemitism in Europe.^[4]

By FIFA rules, the association was required to represent the entire population of Palestine. However, in practice, the PFA was dominated by Jewish players and executives, despite Palestinian Arabs constituting the majority of the population.^[5] According to Issam Khalidi, the Jewish leadership of the PFA systematically limited Arab participation by ensuring Jewish clubs formed the majority of its membership, imposing Hebrew as the primary language for official communication, and incorporating the Zionist flag into its logo.^[6] These actions alienated Arab clubs, who felt marginalized and excluded from the decision-making processes of the PFA.^[7]

In 1934, the Arab clubs formally left the PFA to form the General Palestinian Sports Association,^[8][5][a] citing grievances such as the lack of representation, the imposition of Hebrew, and the scheduling of games on Saturdays, which conflicted with Arab customs.^[7] The Palestine Sports Federation, established in 1938, later submitted a memorandum to FIFA in 1946, requesting separate recognition due to the irreconcilable political and social divisions between Arab and Jewish communities in Mandatory Palestine.^[7] The memorandum highlighted the deep-seated tensions and the inability of the two communities to cooperate in sports under the existing framework.^[7]

Mandatory Palestine played five international games (two games in the 1934 FIFA World Cup qualification, two games in the 1938 FIFA World Cup qualification, and a friendly game against Lebanon) before the end of the British Mandate in 1948.^[10] During those five games, the national team fielded only Jewish players. Before each match, three anthems were played: the British "God Save the King", the Jewish (and future Israeli) "Hatikvah" and the opposing team's anthem.^[11] In 1948, following the establishment of the State of Israel, the team officially became the national team of Israel.^[12]

• Football in Israel
• History of the Israel national football team
• Israel national football team
• Palestine national football team