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FIFA's Gaza support 'in keeping' with international federation - IOC / Photo: © AFP
FIFA's Gaza support 'in keeping' with international federation - IOC
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said Saturday that FIFA's support of an investment programme in Gaza was "in keeping with the role" of an international federation.
IOC president Kirsty Coventry said on Friday she was unaware that FIFA president Gianni Infantino had attended the first meeting of the Board of Peace alongside US President Donald Trump in Washington on Thursday.
World football chief Infantino, who is also an IOC member, used the meeting to announce that his organisation would spearhead a $75 million fund to rebuild football facilities destroyed in Gaza during the war between Israel and Hamas.
He appeared on stage wearing a red cap with "USA" on the front and the numbers 45-47, referring to the two non-consecutive presidencies of Trump.
"The IOC has been in contact with FIFA," an IOC spokesperson told AFP.
"We understand that FIFA is supporting, through football, a comprehensive sport recovery investment programme in Gaza, Palestine, by providing sporting infrastructure, education and elite development proposals.
"This is entirely in keeping with the role of an International Sport Federation. The IOC, through Olympic Solidarity, which is our development vehicle, has been and continues to support sport development in the region."
Infantino has appeared several times with Trump, with the United States co-hosting this year's World Cup along with Mexico and Canada.
FIFA awarded Trump its inaugural peace prize in December, with Infantino saying at the time it was in recognition of the US president's "exceptional and extraordinary" actions to promote peace and unity around the world.
D. Wassiljew--BTZ
