Six U13 Alex players in Palestine for soccer games
Six youngsters from Alexandra have arrived in Palestine along with 14 of their Cape Town compatriots to embark on football games in that country before returning home on July 22.
Six youngsters from Alexandra along with their 14 compatriots from Cape Town have arrived in Palestine to participate in soccer matches with their counterparts from that country.
The Alex youngsters were selected from a Free Palestine Solidarity Football Tournament that was held in Alexandra early this year by the Embassy of the State of Palestine and involved U13 teams from the township.
A Gunners side was crowned champions of the Free Palestine Solidarity Cup after beating bitter township rivals LRC FC 3–1 in the final at the Number 3 Square Grounds in February.
On hand to crown the champions was the Consul of the Embassy of the State of Palestine in Pretoria, Hassona Aldramly, who outlined the history of solidarity between the two countries dating back to the South African anti-apartheid struggle and the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.
When South Africa attained democracy, Aldramly said the parties then forged relations in sport with a soccer tournament called Free Palestine Soccer Tournament in partnership with the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, the national of Department of Arts, Culture, Sport and Recreation, United Nations, and its Gauteng counterpart, and the Sports Stepping Stones Organisation (Triple S Organisation).
He said this soccer tournament was born from a Free Palestine Boxing Tournament organised in Lesotho five years ago and will become a fully-fledged annual event that takes South African children to Palestine one year and vice versa the following year.
As the tournament is ongoing in the various provinces, Aldramly said Alex children would for the first time have an opportunity to travel to Palestine toward the end of the year to play football against their Palestinian counterparts.
The South African U13 squad, which is accompanied by various government officials including the Alex Northrand LFA secretary general Malvin Khumalo, comprises six youngsters from Alex and their Cape Town compatriots that will play a number of matches in various centres in Palestine before returning home on July 22.
Related articles:
