Mohamed Abu Treika was expected to play in Jerusalem
A scheduled friendly match between Egypt's Olympic team and Palestinian national team was postponed indefinitely after it sparked outrage in Egypt.
The match, which was planned to mark Palestinian Land Day on March 30, had led to accusations of normalization of ties with Israel, but what appeared to have caused the postponement of the game were the ongoing clashes between Israeli Arabs and Israeli security forces at Al Aqsa Mosque.
Samir Zaher, the chairman of the Egyptian Football Association, was quoted by the independent daily Al Masry al Youm as saying that "instructions from above cancelled the travel decision until further notice, due to the recent incidents [in Israel]."
The team's Muslim players were already planning to pray at Al Aqsa mosque while coach Hany Ramzy, who is a Christian, was going to visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, according to widespread reports.
"We are an Arab team which was going to meet another Arab team on an Arab land," former Egypt defender Ramzy, who was appointed as the Olympic team's boss in December last year, said.
Ramzy added: "We are totally against normalizing relations with Israel. We just wanted to support Palestine and its people."
