Jerusalem row: Israel calls off Argentina World Cup friendly
Lionel Messi
Rajoub later went on to declare that Messi will be personally targetted
The Israel embassy said today the much-awaited Argentina-Israel World Cup friendly due to be played in a west Jerusalem stadium on Saturday has been cancelled.
The match had created great hype with Argentina star Lionel Messi likely to play, however, it took a political turn after Palestinian FA chief Jibril Rajoub wrote to Claudio Tapia, the head of the Argentinian FA, last week accusing Israel of using the match as a "political tool".
Jerusalem's Teddy Kollek Stadium was due to host Messi's all-star line-up just days ahead of the World Cup but Palestinian FA chief in an angry reaction accused the Israeli government of turning football into a "political tool".
Rajoub later went on to declare that Messi would be personally targetted and called on Palestinian football fans to "burn his picture and his shirt and to abandon him."
Although Argentina has played in Israel earlier but circumstances have changed considerably after the US moved its embassy to Jerusalem last month and recognised the holy city as the official capital of Israel leading to widespread protests in West Bank which led to several deaths as Palestinians clashed with Israeli forces.
Later, Guatemala and Honduras also opened their embassy in Jerusalem leading to further discontentment among the Palestinians.
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Argentina has been drawn in World Cup Group D and will open their campaign against Iceland in Moscow on June 16.