Recognition of Palestine by the FIFA
Palestine joined the FIFA, the international governing body of Football (Soccer) in 1998.
FIFA has recognized the home stadium of Palestine and its right to host its official matches on Palestinian soli in 2008, and this marked a turning point in the history of Palestinian football.
The postal sheet below was issued to commemorate this event.
On October 26, 2008, the stadium of the martyr Faisal Al-Husseini in Jerusalm was inaugurated, and the Palestinian Football team played its first international friendly match between with the Jordanian team in honor of the opening. The match ended with a result 1-1.
Since then the Palestine received the visit of many international football teams including the olympic teams of Thailan and Bahrain, the national teams of Afghanistan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates. In October 2019, Palestine received the national team of Saudi Arabia in October 2019 to play a match within the double qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup and the 2023 Asian Cup in football.
The recognition of the home stadium of Palestine, opened also the door for many Palestinian footbal clubs to receive their international counterparts. In October 2019, the Raja Casablanca team played a match against Al-Quds Hilal club of Jerusalem.
To celebrate this recognition of Palestine by the FIFA, the Palestinian post issued a commemorative sheet in 2013 with a value of 1000 Mils.
In 2012 the United Nations recognized the state of Palestine as non-member state. In 2013, the palestinian postal services started using the denomination “State of Palestine” on the stamps in replacement of ” Palestinian Authority” used from 1994 to 2012.
