This weekend, a new West Bank Premier League champion was crowned - Jabal Mukaber from Jerusalem.
It had been 14 years since their last title, and this year a thrilling season included a neck-and-neck battle with Hilal Al Quds.
Last weekend, Mukaber played against Taraji Wad A-Nes.
Trailing 2-1 in the 76th minute, they answered with a handful of goals - ending the game as resounding 5-2 winners, and securing the title.
Mukaber won the title with a record number of points - 55 out of 66 - a point more than Shabab Al Khalil had in the 2021/22 campaign.
Another achievement was unlocked by goalkeeper Rami Hamadeh, who became the first footballer to win the West Bank Premier League with three different teams.
Hamadeh won the title in the past with both Hilal Al Quds and Shabab Al Khalil, and has now added a historical one with Mukaber.
That’s four championships with three clubs for the goalkeeper, who has won the league title three years in a row.
Mohamed Bassim Rasheed and Mahmoud Abu Khamis are also celebrating a West Bank title with a second team.
And this championship did not go unnoticed in Jerusalem.
The big East Jerusalemite village celebrations were huge and festive, as the players wrote a small piece of Palestinian history, and will now prepare for the AFC Cup preliminary round in August.
Yemen’s football homecoming
On Friday, at the Seiyun Olympic Stadium in Yemen, the Hadramaut Cup final took place in front of a rare crowd of around 50,000 fans, per local sources.
Ettifaq Al Houtah defeated Al Shaab Hadramaut in a penalty shootout, after the game ended 1-1 after 90 minutes.
Al-Houta's goal was scored by Ibrahim bin Fadel with Al Shaab's Majid Basloum scoring the equalizer.
This is the seventh edition of the Hadramaut Cup, and the regional tournament has been the most sustainable football solution in Yemen in recent times; the league has not been played regularly since 2015, due to the security situation in the country.
Hadramaut is still under the control of Rashad Al Alimi’s Yemeni government, supported by Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries, in coalition with the Southern [Yemeni] Movement, which spreads from the capital Aden to Seiyun.
Historic friendly between the U17 women's teams of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait
On Saturday, a historic match between the U17 women's teams of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait ended in a 4-1 victory for the Kuwaiti team.
The result aside, women's football in the Middle East is growing.
It was only in February 2020 that Saudi Arabia formed its first official women's national team, and now a historic match against its neighbour has become a reality.
Despite what many may claim, women's football is not a gimmick in the Gulf.
They might be considered late adopters of the sport compared to the rest of the world, but with the resources they're investing in the women's game, we might see, very soon, an Arab women's national team doing something big.
CAF problematic resolutions for the Algeria-Morocco CHAN dispute
Is the Confederation of African Football (CAF) capable of making an influence when it comes to political differences between member associations? Not really.
In the 2022 Championship for African Nations (CHAN) in Algeria in January this year, Morocco and Algeria were in dispute about the route the Moroccan national team would take to the tournament.
The Moroccans' planned to fly direct, but the Algerians refused and asked them to fly with a neutral air carrier via Tunisia.
The two-time champions, Morocco, withdrew from the competition.
But now the CAF disciplinary committee has come up with a resolution: no punishment for either side.
The committee concluded that Morocco “was unable to travel and participate in the CHAN due to circumstances totally beyond their control, and as such no sanction of whatsoever nature is imposed”.
And with respect to Algeria, and Nelson Mandela’s grandson’s statement at the opening ceremony, CAF did not “find liability on Algeria”.
But they “issued a formal reminder to all national associations” in case similar incidents happen in the future.
Morocco is already preparing an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport regarding the resolution.
As always in political football sagas in North Africa, it’s to be continued.
Hapoel Tel Aviv’s HQ burned down
In the early hours of Sunday morning, a severe fire broke out at Hapoel Tel Aviv's training facilities.
Hapoel are one of the biggest clubs in Israeli football, with massive fans.
Police have said that the primary assumption is that the place was set on fire on purpose, and the issue is under investigation.
Meanwhile, a radical group of Beitar Jerusalem fans called the Tradition Keepers, an extreme branch of the infamous group La Familia, posted a video celebrating the fire as an achievement.
The facilities were demolished in the fire, that was on the eve of a clash between Beitar and Hapoel - a superbly important match for the former’s play-off hopes.
And this all comes after, only last Thursday, Hapoel confirmed its purchase by a new group of owners, headed by American David Mincberg.
The rivalry between them and Beitar is becoming one of Israeli football's most fierce rivalries.
Beitar traditionally represents the Israeli right-wing, while Hapoel is the Israeli left.
Over the years, there have been many incidents between the two sets of fans.
Twelve years ago, some Hapoel fans were charged with burning down Beitar's facilities in Jerusalem.
A few years later, La Familia burned down Beitar's training facilities after the club signed two Muslim Chechen players.
Politics, history and violence has shaped the pre-match atmosphere.
Despite all that, the game went ahead, and Hapoel, who have been through one of their worst seasons in the club's history, managed to win 3-1 with just 10 men.
An inspiring effort to cheer up the club and its community.
Edited by Alex Smith
