FIFA says the Palestinian soccer association will not host two World Cup qualifying matches this month for security reasons.
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Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday they had decided not to play the disputed qualifier in Ramallah.
A Palestine-Saudi Arabia match, which was originally scheduled for Thursday, will now be played on November 9 in Amman.
“I spoke to (Jordan’s) Prince Ali over the last two days and we will play the two matches in Jordan”, Palestinian FA President Jibril Rajoub said.
But a Federation Internationale de Football Association emergency bureau made the decision after their officials and the Palestinian authorities met on Tuesday and “the Palestinian government confirmed it could no longer guarantee the safety and security around the matches in question”, the governing body said in a statement.
The Saudis subsequently declined to play the fixture in October, saying they could not travel to the Palestinian territories due to force majeure. Back in June, Harimau Malaya were thrashed 6-0 when playing at home against the the heavily naturalised Palestinians.
The first World Cup qualifier to be played on the West Bank was against Afghanistan in 2011.
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Saudi Arabia lead the group with 12 points from four games followed by the United Arab Emirates on seven and Palestine on five.
