The head of the Palestinian football association pledged to appeal Monday against FIFA-s 12-month ban for comments made about Lionel Messi, calling it an "unjust and political decision." FIFA last month banned Jibril Rajoub from attending matches for a year and fined him 20,000 Swiss francs 20,600, 17,700 euros for "inciting hatred and violence" after calling on fans to burn pictures and jerseys of Messi in the build-up to a friendly game with Israel.

Rajoub had demanded that Barcelona star Messi not take part in the pre-World Cup friendly against Israel scheduled for June 9 and called on fans to burn shirts bearing his name if he did.