BAHRAIN’S international friendly against Palestine next week has been cancelled, the Bahrain Football Association (BFA) announced yesterday.
The BFA received a letter of apology from the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) informing the hosts of their withdrawal from the game, which was scheduled to take place on Tuesday at the National Stadium in Riffa.
The PFA cited their team’s participation in the 2018 Bangabandhu Gold Cup in Bangladesh as the reason for the cancellation. The tournament finished just last night and Palestine were crowned champions following a penalty shootout victory in the final over Tajikistan.
BFA secretary general Ebrahim Albuainain expressed his deep discontent with the development, especially since it came just a few days before the match was to take place.
Surprised
Albuainain said that the BFA was surprised with the withdrawal, and that it significantly altered the programme of Bahrain’s senior men’s national football team, who were using the friendly as part of their preparations for future competitions, incluing the AFC Asian Cup 2019 in January in the UAE.
Albuainain noted that it will be very difficult to schedule a replacement national team for the scheduled date, and the BFA would have to look towards other options for the future.
Bahrain’s match with Palestine was supposed to be their second within a one-week span, as the nationals also played another friendly against Syria, which they lost 0-1.
Also, the Bahrainis had two friendlies in September, first against the Philippines and then against China.
The AFC Asian Cup 2019 will be Bahrain’s sixth participation in the continental showcase. Their best finish was in 2004, when they claimed fourth place overall out of 16 teams participating in the group stage after losing two of their three games.
Bahrain will face hosts UAE in the inaugural match of the Asian Cup at Zayed Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi on January 5.
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