Argentina's Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie said on Thursday that "religious discrimination" was not been behind the decision to cancel Saturday's friendly soccer match against Israel in Jerusalem ahead of the World Cup in Russia.
According to Faurie, the decision was made because the match was moved from Haifa to Jerusalem.
"Over two weeks ago already we notified the Argentine Football Association that playing in Jerusalem would be a sensitive matter. When I was informed the match had been moved from Haifa to Jerusalem, we made the decision to let the AFA know our opinion. We as a government cannot determine what the AFA does, but our counsel certainly carries weight. The [AFA] responded to us that it was committed to playing due to the trade agreement [between the countries]. It was explained to us that a friendly match in Israel was already agreed upon, and approval was given for the match to be played in Haifa.
"Everything went ahead to the satisfaction of all sides until the Israeli sports authorities announced the game was moved to Jerusalem. When we were made aware of this we voiced our position to the AFA. We said that holding the game in Jerusalem is a sensitive step because the city is currently the focus of attention in the context of the American embassy transfer, which essentially sends a message of recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital; an issue which in our view is divisive because the city is important to the three religions and from the United Nations' viewpoint is the basis for future negotiations between the sides," Faurie said.
Israel has demanded that soccer's governing body, FIFA, investigate what it said were threats against Argentinean players that forced them to cancel the game, including Palestinian calls to burn replica shirts of superstar Lionel Messi if he played.
According to Faurie, "the vicious threats" toward the Argentine players and their families began after the venue was changed.
"In all matters of diplomacy," Faurie continued, "Argentina will always treat the sides equally and supports co-existence between Israel and the Palestinians. Moving our embassy to Jerusalem is presently not on the docket because the consequences are different from holding a soccer match. We will not move the embassy because we fall in line with the U.N. resolutions."
Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev was prohibited from addressing comments issued by diplomatic bodies, her ministry said in a statement.
"We are based on facts we are intimately familiar with, conveyed to us through the event organizer's reports and from the material presented to us. The clear facts are that throughout the entire process there was no indication of refusal on the part of the Argentine team to play in Jerusalem and an announcement was even made about holding the game in the city.
"The decision to not come to Israel stems from threats, intimidation or other types of intervention from third-party elements hostile to Israel," the statement said.
Palestinian soccer officials praised Argentina and their captain Messi on Wednesday for calling off the match.
The Israel Football Association accused the Palestinians of crossing a "red line" by inciting anger towards the Argentine players in order to scupper the match.
The Palestinians accused Israel of moving the match to Jerusalem to exploit the presence of Messi and other stars to underpin Israel's claim to the Holy City.
Meanwhile, the Israeli firm that had been promoting the match accused Qatar of convincing the Argentinean team to pull out of the hotly anticipated exhibition and said the Gulf state had offered to foot the bill for compensation that the Argentinians will need to pay.
In addition to a reported $2.2 million in damages the Argentinians have already agreed to recompense, Danny Benaim, whose ComtecGroup organized the match, also demanded additional sums for aggravation caused to promoters and fans.
According to Hadashot evening news, ComtecGroup concluded that Qatar was involved because Argentinian officials did not seem troubled by the compensation demand, leading to suspicions that a wealthy entity was manipulating the situation behind the scenes.
Qatar's Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani adamantly denied his country had any involvement in the matter.
A person affiliated with CometecGroup, however, cited the close relationship between Qatar and Palestinian Football Association President Jibril Rajoub, who pushed for the cancellation of the match.
In Argentina on Thursday, AFA officials were quoted as saying that CometecGroup has asked FIFA to suspend Argentina from the World Cup, citing breach of contract based on religious discrimination. CometecGroup vehemently denied the report.
