Chilean club Deportivo Palestino have been fined following a controversial kit deemed “Anti Israeli”. The numerals on the team's green, white and red jersey (the colours of the Palestinian flag), more specifically the number one, had been altered to resemble a map of Palestine before the formation of the state of Israel in 1947.
The Chilean Football Association opened investigations after several complaints were received from the country's Jewish population, the most notable of which came from Patrick Kiblisky Fried, Jewish president of Deportivo Nublense.
The kits were worn during three different games, the first of which was on the 4th of January on the inaugural day of the season. However the club claimed they had been wearing the edited numerals for longer.
Deportivo Palestino were fined $1300 (around £800) by the Chilean FA, who said they were opposed to “any form of political, religious, sexual, ethnic, social or racial discrimination” before adding “We cannot accept the involvement of football with politics and religion”.
Club President Fernando Aguad later told the press "We accept the resolution and we will change our uniform".
Deportivo Palestino, otherwise known as CD Palestino, themselves later took to Facebook where they posted “For us, a costless Palestine will always be the historical Palestine; nothing less”.
The Palestinian Federation of Chile also issued a statement which said "We reject the hypocrisy of those who denounce this map but they talk about the occupied territory as disputed territory".
The club, who play their home games in the Chilean capital of Santiago, were formed in 1920 by Palestinian immigrants and have won the country's league title on two occasions, most recently in 1978. Chile is believed to have the largest Palestinian community outside of the Middle-East and it is estimated there are between 450,000 and 500,000 Chilean citizens of Palestinian descent.
