The Dutch football club Vitessa Arnhem was dealt a blow recently when a member of its squad, Dan Mori, was refused entry into the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to attend a training camp there.
The position is a confusing one because the club says that they had sought and received a verbal confirmation that the defender from Israel would be allowed into the UAE, but this proved later to be worthless.
A spokesperson for Vitesse Arnhem said that the move was strange because both Israel and the United Arab Emirates are both members of the football organisation, FIFA.
The plan has been for players to practise at the training camp at UAE before playing in some friendly matches with German Bundesliga clubs, namely Hamburg SV and Vfl Wolfsburg.
The club felt they did not wish to walk away from their commitment to play the German teams, however the Dutch minster for finance, Jeroen Dijsselbloem was on television recently to condemn the decision to still go ahead with the trip to the UAE. He felt that the club should have backed their player, rather than leave him back practicing with the reserve team.
This is not the first time that the great sport of football has become a political punching bag instead of being a simple game of sport to be enjoyed by club owners, players and their supporters.
One would have hoped that in one of the more progressive and forward-thinking of nations in the Middle East that is experiencing a steady growth in visitors from tourism and luxury shopping markets, that the United Arab Emirates would have a more open stance when it comes to international football, including the players who participate in it.
With this kind of old fashioned political thinking, it is difficult to imagine peace in the Middle East region when even the simple elegance of a game of football cannot see people overcome their differences.