Two weeks ago, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak ordered his negotiating team to withdraw from negotiations in Sweden following violent clashes in the West Bank between Palestinian protesters and Israeli troops. In addition to the current impasse, previous FIFA attempts to hold a match between the two sides failed. These included one effort in 1998 by former President Joao Havilange and by Blatter during his visit to Palestinian territories in October to open the premises of the Palestinian Football Federation. But Arafat was there last week, watching the match from the stands of Rome's Olympic Stadium. He raised his arms and linked hands with Peres and Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi.
More cooperation is in the pipeline.
The meeting will be held despite the IOC's decision to hang a memorial plaque in Sydney's Olympic village for 11 Israeli sportsmen killed in an attack by Palestinian commandos in the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. Officials of the Palestinian Olympic Committee filed an official protest to the IOC which had rejected previous appeals by Israel to have such a plaque raised. Rabie Al-Tork, the Palestinian committee's vice president, condemned the decision.