The Arabian Gulf League and the Israeli Premier League are now collaborators. Three months back, this scenario would count as surreal. Today, it’s a reality.
On Tuesday, both leagues announced the signing of a memorandum of understandings that will include several collaborations and bilateral activities that will create a new reality in Middle Eastern football.
The terms of the MOU between the sides will include:
Create bilateral workshops, research and knowledge exchange
Support each other with commercial opportunities
Explore all other opportunities to promote football development between both countries
Explore possible competitions between teams representing both leagues
“…the UAE Pro League is pleased to announce today the signing of a cooperation and partnership agreement with the Israeli Professional Football League”, said Abdulla Naser Al Junaibi, Chairman of the UAE Pro League. “football has always been the most important and fast path to bring people together. These are the cooperation pillars we aim at through this agreement, through which we hope to achieve gains for both parties. We look forward to the contribution that this agreement would bring to establishing bilateral workshops to share experiences, research, and technology in football and the development of administrative and technical work. We also aim to organize joint activities between the two leagues and to assure cooperation to reinforce the economic - commercial – technological and technical sides between the two leagues.”
In turn, Erez Halfon, Chairman of the Israeli Professional Football League said, “football is the most popular sport not only in the world, but also in both Israel and the United Arab Emirates; The passion for football transcends religions, nations and races, and we have the ability to use it as a tool to build relationships and break down walls between people, of all genders, and all races. I am proud and excited to take part in this event where we sign an agreement that will form a bridge between Israeli football and football in the UAE.”
The announcement about the memorandum joins a handful of events involving Emirati and Israeli football.
Friendly games invitations, interest in investments in Beitar Jerusalem and Hapoel Tel Aviv, the signing of Dia Saba in Al-Nasr, a cooperation agreement between Maccabi Haifa and Al-Ain, and now, an official memorandum of understandings that opens the way for tournaments, collaborations between clubs and an extensive football knowledge and culture exchange.
It’s a new middle east in terms of football, and it feels like it’s only the beginning.
