According to the agency, this is the first time that a Palestinian referee participates in the arbitration of World Cup matches.
Saadia previously participated in managing the Asian Women’s Cup matches that were held in India last February.
Saadia was chosen among the referees for the Group N matches in the 2022 AFC Cup, which took place in the assembly system from 24 to 30 last June in Vietnam, as the group includes Vietnamese Vitel, Singapore’s Huang United, Cambodian Phnom Penh, and Young Elephants. from Laos.
The International and Asian Football Confederations also chose Al-Hikma Saadia, who opened her participation in the 2022 “Morris Revillo” tournament for men under the age of 21, hosted by France from May 29 to June 13 of this year, with the participation of teams from 12 countries around the world. .
The ninth Women’s World Cup, “Australia and New Zealand 2023”, is the first in the history of the tournament to be co-organised by two countries, and the first to be held in the southern hemisphere and the first to include 32 teams, knowing that the 2019 edition included 24 teams.
Football in Palestine
For many years, Israeli forces have restricted sporting activities in Palestine by damaging sports facilities, denying travel permits to footballers from Gaza to cross through Israel into the occupied West Bank to play in local tournaments, and targeting footballers for arrest or death.
Last week, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh called on FIFA to condemn Israel’s killing of Palestinian soccer player Ahmed Atef Mustafa Daraghmeh, who died of serious injuries sustained by Israeli army fire.
Shtayyeh denounced the attack, which resulted in the death of Daraghmeh after being hit with a live bullet in the back and the feet, with the outbreak of confrontations when a large force of the occupation army stormed the eastern part of the city of Nablus to provide protection for the Israeli settlers who stormed “Joseph’s Tomb”.
The Prime Minister called on international human rights organizations to take responsibility for holding the Israeli occupation accountable for its crimes to stop the aggression.
TRT Arabic – Agencies