CAIRO: FIFA have presented Palestine with the inaugural Development Award during the Footballer of the Year Gala ceremony in Zurich.
The award was intended to demonstrate the efforts made by the war-torn nation in renovating an international-standard stadium in Ramallah last October.
The Palestinian Football Association receives the award in recognition of the difficult task that it had accomplished in keeping football alive, said FIFA President Sepp Blatter.
And also for its work with FIFA in building the first international-standard stadium in the West Bank, as well as organizing the now famous match between Palestine and Jordan in October 2008.
Palestinian FA president Jibril Rajoub highlighted the timing and significance of the award to Palestinians.
This is proof of the existence of the Palestinian sports family, we are honored to receive such an award by FIFA, Rajoub told ART Sport TV.
Our people are being massacred in Gaza, but this honor means we still have a free will and signifies a victory for the sports family in Palestine.
We hope to see an end to the suffering of Palestinian people.
