Palestinian Football Association blames PMW for Rajoub's suspension from FIFA

  “From the first moment that the FIFA Disciplinary Committee launched a series of proceedings on May 29, 2018, at the request of the Israel Football Association and one of the Israeli extremist right-wing organizations [PMW], it was clear to us that there is a deliberate intent to ban Palestinian Football Association Chairman Jibril Rajoub from being involved in football – something that apparently will not end with this decision, which we find very strange and whose timing we condemn…
The Disciplinary Committee decision was based on the claims of an Israeli organization of settlers on the occupied lands (PMW’s office is in west Jerusalem –Ed.), who call themselves Palestinian Media Watch (Palestine Media Watch) [English name repeats in parentheses in source]. These claims are connected to statements that were attributed to Jibril Rajoub on a Lebanese TV station in 2013 (Reference to Rajoub on L ebanese Al-Mayadeen TV that was one of many sources in PMW’s first complaint against Rajoub; see note below- Ed).
Regarding the apparent threat to Argentinian player Lionel Messi, we wonder how legal it is that a third party [PMW/IFA] – which is not a neutral side and which is in an unresolved dispute with the Palestinian [Football] Association before FIFA (i.e., FIFA has not yet ruled on PMW’s first complaint against Rajoub and the PFA) – would submit a complaint on behalf of Messi, which is something that neither he nor the Argentinian [Football] Association has done…
We are surprised by the speed with which FIFA rushed to convict the chairman of the Palestinian Football Association, relying on media reports of non-neutral parties, and this is as opposed to its slowness and hesitation on everything that is connected to ensuring the right of the children of Palestine to play on their lands and enabling the playing [of football] in the face of the occupation’s actions.
While emphasizing that we respect the law, the FIFA regulations, and the decisions of the relevant committees, we reserve for ourselves the right to deal with the matter in the relevant legal circles.”
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The reference to “statements that were attributed to Jibril Rajoub on a Lebanese media outlet in 2013” refer to Rajoub’s statement on Lebanese Al-Mayadeen TV on April 30, 2013, which was in PMW’s first complaint against Rajoub to FIFA in 2017, and in which Rajoub said: “Listen. We as yet don't have a nuke, but I swear that if we had a nuke, we'd have used it this very morning.”

The FIFA Disciplinary Committee decision on Aug. 24, 2018 suspends Jibril Rajoub from attending games for 12 months, and fines him 20,000 Swiss francs. The decision came following complaints by PMW and the Israel Football Association following Rajoub’s threats to Argentinian players if they played a football friendly match in Israel on June 9, 2018. The decision cited Rajoub’s comments “calling on football fans to target the Argentinian Football Association and burn jerseys and pictures of [Argentinian player] Lionel Messi,” and explained for punitive action against Rajoub given how he “incited hatred and violence.”