The Palestinian Football Association (PFA) has called for international action and accountability following the arrest of women’s national team player Rand Al-Halawani and former squad player Natalie Abu Diya by Israeli authorities, saying it still has not been informed of the reasons for their detention.
The detention and interrogation procedures are still ongoing and that the grounds cited by Israeli authorities for holding the two players remain unclear, PFA spokesperson Dima Yousef said on Thursday.
She described the arrests of Halawani and Abu Diya as “not an isolated incident,” but rather part of a “systematic targeting of Palestinian athletes.”
Yousef said the detentions constitute “a clear violation of FIFA regulations and the principles that guarantee the protection of athletes.”
She stressed the need for an effective international response to halt violations against Palestinian athletes and hold those responsible accountable.
Continued international silence
“We demand genuine international action and accountability for the Israeli authorities responsible for the arrest of the two players,” she said, arguing that continued international silence only entrenches violations against Palestinian athletes.
Yousef added that the Palestinian Football Association intends to take formal steps at the international level to pursue the case and document it as part of the violations files submitted to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Israeli authorities on Wednesday extended the detention of Halawani until Friday after summoning her for questioning at the Talpiot police station in West Jerusalem.
A day earlier, authorities arrested Abu Diya, a student at Birzeit University, following a raid on her residence, according to the PFA.
