Palestine to play in Iraq, China

Palestine to play in Iraq, China
(AFP) Sunday 5 July 2009
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The Palestinian national team will travel to northern Iraq for a friendly on Friday followed by a visit to China, according to Jibril Rajub, head of the Palestinian football federation.

The two teams will play in the northern city of Arbil in the autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq and hope to schedule a second match in Baghdad.

After visiting Iraq, the Palestinian team will head to China for a friendly on 18 July.

Rajub also noted that the team's new coach Musa Bazaz, 52, a French citizen of Algerian descent, would arrive in the West Bank on Monday.

Rajub has been actively promoting football since becoming federation head in May 2008. Last year under his leadership the federation financed the construction of a stadium in the West Bank town of Al-Ram outside Jerusalem and the team played its first ever home match against Jordan in October.

Palestine has been affiliated to FIFA since 1998.