Palestine Para Football

Palestine Para Football

Para Football is delighted to welcome the Palestine Football Association to our network as an Affiliate Football Association and member of the Para Football network, where together we can make a real difference for persons with disabilities.

Palestine Football Assocation

PFA's programme consists of grassroots festivals and integration activities, working with a range disabilities. Through their partnership with the Norway Football Federation includes financial support for the integration of children with disabiities in football alongside their peers. PFA work with the Palestine Ministry of Education who facilitate the pathway to enter schools to conduct football activities.

Ihsan Abdallah, PFA Technical Director Assistant shared:

"We are glad to be part of Para Football where we can have all efforts together to provide love and care through sport and especially football, and that is how we can develop more efforts to serve our kids and spread education about kids with special needs in Palestine"

Para Football

Para Football works to bring together and coordinate football for persons with disabilities, connecting International Federations, National Football Associations and Para Football stakeholders as part of a worldwide network.

Sam Turner, co-founder of Para Football says:

"Working closely with the Palestine Football Association allows Para Football to empower local people to make a real difference where so many persons with disabilities are affected by conflict and political challenges.

Everyone deserves the right to play football and with a disproportionate number of people in Palestine with disabilities, Para Football is an important priority. Our collaboration is about more than nice stories and photos, but ensuring that the right support makes positive, meaningful and lasting change in football for all."

Para Football in West Asia

Our work in West Asia (as Para Football) began when the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) asked us to support the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) in developing a social responsibility programme for persons with disabilities.

So far this project has included an Audit and Needs Analysis of Para Football in the region, followed by the delivery of online Para Football development workshops during the COVID-19 pandemic. Para Football and WAFF continue to work closely on further intitiatives to support Member Associations and provide opportunities for persons with disabilities to play football in the region.

The Palestine Football Association are one of 11 Member Associations who participated in the Para Football development workshops delivered by Para Football and hosted by the West Asian Football Federation.

Ihsan Abdallah, PFA Technical Director Assistant, delivered a presentation of the partnership work in Palestine to provide opportunities for children with disabilities to play football. This good practice from PFA was positively received from the attending participants, and gave a great insight to how positive and impactful partnerships can be achieved.

"We have started this program with personal initiative from our coaches and employees trying to provide a service for kids of Palestine, we were lucky to find that it has reached somewhere and there are people who are willing to assist and support.

The Norway Football Federation facilitated our work through providing activities for kids with special needs through the girls football coaching courses program (GFCC).

We are looking forward to having a national team for Down Syndrome and CP as well. We are hoping to get to our aim through hard work and the support of our affiliated bodies and Para Football."

Click here to find out more about the Palestine Football Association