War cannot dim Middle Eastern passion for sport

Hisham Taleb checks his watch nervously every few minutes as he follows the latest news of the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan on satellite television.

"It's time, it's about to start," he says as he switches channels from a news station showing live pictures of Kabul's skyline lit by anti-aircraft fire and missiles to a sports station broadcasting live a soccer match.

"I am very interested in the war and all that but life has to go on and despite all the tension and uncertainty of the war next door I still feel nervous before an important match," Taleb, an Egyptian living in Jordan, told Reuters.

Security concerns since the September 11 attacks in the United States and their consequences have disrupted few sporting events across the Middle East. Passion for sports in the war-hardened region remains as intense as ever.

Some 100,000 fans crowded into Tehran stadium last week to watch Iran beat arch rivals Iraq 2-1 and take a big step towards next year's World Cup finals in Japan and South Korea.

Celebrations got out of hand after the match and clashes between fans and police erupted outside the stadium in a country watching nervously over its borders with Afghanistan.

State television and local newspapers gave Iran's World Cup campaign considerable coverage, trumpeting the victories on the pitch. Iran now need to beat Bahrain on Friday to make sure of a finals' spot.

Despite the fact that Iraq were not challenging for a place in the finals, Iraqis were glued to their television sets, following the match regardless of hardships caused by 11 years of sanctions and threats that the United States will take its war against terror to Baghdad.

"People who love sports, love sports no matter what," said Ahmad Haidar, a 22-year-old supporter of Lebanon's Nejme football club.

"I still watch sports because I always did and most of my friends are the same. I watch the news more now but the war on terrorism hasn't put me off sports at all."

Israelis Defiant
But security fears after September 11 forced the cancellation of some sporting events from Kuwait to Israel.

In the latest disruption, England's Chelsea football team left behind six players including France's World Cup-winning midfielder Emmanuel Petit when they flew out to Israel for Thursday's UEFA Cup match against Hapoel Tel Aviv.

More than a year of Israeli-Palestinian fighting had already given rise to local security fears, with sports officials tightening security at stadiums.

But foreign sports teams have continued to arrive in Israel for matches, even though at times they have expressed concern beforehand.

Several days after a Palestinian suicide bomber killed 21 people outside a Tel Aviv disco in June, an Israel-Spain World Cup soccer qualifier saw a severe drop in turnout when 25,000 spectators arrived instead of an expected 40,000.

But Yoni Yarom, a leading sports physician and head of the Meuhedet Health Fund's sports medicine services, said the current crisis in Afghanistan had, if anything, emboldened the resolve of Israeli athletes to go out and compete and show the world that for them life was going on as normal.

"There is no effect whatsoever on Israel's sportsmen and women. Why should the war in Afghanistan make any difference to their schedule?" he asked.

Yarom, whose clinic is based at the National Stadium in Tel Aviv where the Israeli national soccer team will meet Austria in a World Cup qualifier on October 27, said that there had also been no effect recently on Israeli spectators.

The game against Austria was postponed from October 7 when FIFA voiced security concerns following the downing of a Russian airliner en route from Tel Aviv to Novosibirsk which killed all those on board.

Stray Missile
FIFA president Sepp Blatter originally cited fears of a "terrorist attack" on the aircraft but the Ukrainian government have since admitted that their forces shot down the plane accidentally with a stray anti-aircraft missile.

The postponement was received with dismay by the Israel Football Association who described it as 'misguided'. There has also been criticism of the Austrians by Israeli fans.

Last month, Kuwait postponed its October 20-30 second West Asian Games due to tensions in the area following the attacks on the United States.

A new date for the Games is due to be announced at a special session of the General Assembly of the Federation of the West Asian Games to be called later.

At least two international sporting events in Lebanon were affected last month.

Round seven of the world offshore powerboat championship, which had been scheduled to take place at the marina in Dbayyeh on September 28-30, was cancelled.

Davis Cup tennis matches between Lebanese and Taiwanese players, scheduled for September, were postponed until November.

In Egypt, a friendly football match with South Africa in November was switched from Cairo to Johannesburg while Denmark cancelled a similar trip. But Norway still intend to visit for a November 14 friendly.