After the creation of the Palestinian Authority in September 1993, Michel Platini led the Variété Club de France, with his former teammates but also Yannick Noah, to Israel and Palestine, for a gala match against a Palestinian selection.
It was the stroke of madness of Jacques Vendroux, one of the founders of the Variété Club de France, a football team made up of former footballers and celebrities. After the Oslo Accords, on September 13, 1993 at the White House, between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, leading to the creation of the Palestinian Authority, the sports journalist decided to go and play in Palestine.
“ This crossed my mind while reading the newspapers the day after the handshake between Yasser Arafat and Itzhak Rabin. I told myself that we could be the first to go and play in Palestine against a selection of Palestinians. I called Michel Platini, our playmaker, who gave me his agreement. The next day, I spoke about it to the whole team who were playing in the Coupe de France. It was gone », Tells Vendroux one day to Libération.
Palestinians win 1-0
With “Platoche”, legend of the French team (then coach from 88 to 92), his former teammates Maxime Bossis, Patrick Battiston, Jean Tigana, Alain Giresse and Dominique Rocheteau, but also Yannick Noah and Serge Blanco, the Variété s flew to Tel Aviv and reached Jericho, in the West Bank, for a gala match against a selection of Palestinian players, in front of delirious spectators. 1-0 victory for the locals, the Palestinian striker becomes a national hero.
It was not until May 1995 that the Palestine national team was recognized by FIFA. Previously, Palestine under British mandate participated in the qualifications of the 34 and 38 World Cups only with Jewish players and this team became the selection of Israel in 1948. The team of the federation of Palestinian Arabs was failed by the Fifa for 50 years, as told in the last episode of our podcast Golazo.
