Israel ban throws Chelsea´s Asian tour into doubt
Posted on March 27, 2008 Filed Under Headlines
Premier League giants Chelsea announced a mini-Asian tour on Thursday but said they may have to cancel the Malaysian leg if their Israeli coach Avram Grant is not allowed into the country.
Malaysia doesn’t has good terms with Israel and their Citizen. Chelsea has to Israelis; Chelsea manager Avram Grant and the midfielder Tal Ben Haim.
Chelsea has decided that they wont go to Malaysia without these players. The Football Association of Malaysia told a press conference that tour organisers would raise the issue with the foreign ministry in order to obtain clearance for the pair.
Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon, who announced matches in Malaysia on July 29 and in China tentatively on July 23 in the southern city of Guangzhou, was confident approval would be secured.
“We really do not anticipate that to be a problem. We think it can be solved,” Kenyon said.
In 1997, Malaysia allowed Israel to compete in the 22-nation ICC Trophy cricket tournament here but the decision sparked a series of demonstrations in the capital.
Malaysia’s population is dominated by Muslim Malays, but the nation is also home to large ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities.
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