AMMAN: The Jordan Football Association has submitted an official complaint to the Asian Football Confederation against the Palestinian Football Association over matchfixing suspicions in the Asian Cup in Australia at the start of the year.

Media reports in Jordan have quoted JFA vice-president Salah Sabra as saying that a video posted on YouTube showed PFA president Jibreel Rajoub telling Iraqi players he hoped they defeated Palestine.

Sabra said this indicated potential match manipulation because Iraq went on to win 2-0, thus depriving Jordan of any chance of reaching the knockout stages. Jordan lost 1-0 to Iraq, beat Palestine 5-1 and lost 2-0 to Japan.

In the video recorded before the Iraq-Palestine match, Rjoub is seen telling Iraqi players: “I hope you beat us, and the most important thing is that you have to qualify.” Japan and Iraq qualified for the second round.

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