A team of Israeli gamers landed in Saudi Arabia, where they will compete in the FIFAe Club World Cup, an international soccer video game competition held every year under the aegis of FIFA and EA Sports.
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This year, the eSports event was organized for the first time in Riyadh. Despite an absence of official relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, Israeli presence in the kingdom has become more common.
The team of three players, a coach and an assistant manager entered Saudi territory via the United Arab Emirates on Israeli passports for the event scheduled for July 16-19. Zvika Kosman, the club's manager, worked with FIFA to obtain Saudi approval.
According to Kosman, Saudi Arabia provided a letter stipulating that all participants would be allowed into the country, without singling out Israel. He added that communications were via FIFA, with no direct contact between the Israeli and Saudi governments.
Although reportedly the team will not openly display their Israeli identity in public, they said their nationality will not be concealed during the tournament. Their security will be provided by the local authorities and a private company.
The arrival of the Israeli team takes place against the backdrop of US effort to negotiate a normalization of relations between the Israel and Saudi Arabia. However, an agreement seems unlikely for the time being, given Saudi demands and political tensions linked to the Palestinians.
This article was first published by i24NEWS.
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