Man City Manuel Pellegrini's ex-Club Palestino in Anti-Israel Shirt Row
The shirt of a Chilean football team formerly coached by Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini has ignited a row between the local Palestinian and Jewish communities.
Representatives of the Chilean Jewish community have urged Fifa to take action against the Santiago-based Club Deportivo Palestino for they say the team's jersey is anti-Israel and offensive.
The number "1'' appears on the club's recently unveiled 2014 kit in the shape of a map of Israel and the Palestinian territories, implying that all the land is Palestinian.
"This act of smugness by the irresponsible mangers of Palestino is offensive to the whole Chilean Jewish community. It's unprecedented," tweeted Gabriel Zaliasnik, the former president of Chilean Jewish community (CJC).
Zaliasnik added that the shirt incited to violence and hatred, thus breaching Fifa regulations.
His successor at the head of CJC, Gerardo Gorodischer, has urged Chile's football association to ban the shirt.
"We reject the import of the Middle East conflict in Chile," Gorodischer tweeted.
On the other hand, Chile's Palestinian Federation has backed the club's choice of the shirt.
"The Deportivo Palestino and its symbols have existed in our country since 1920, 28 years before the establishment of a state of Israel in Palestine," the federation said.
Founded by Palestinian migrants, Palestino plays in Chile's top division. The club's colours are those of the Palestinian flag: black, white, green and red.
Pellegrini, who is a Chilean national, coached Palestino at the beginning of his career from 1990 to 1992.
"One day a small club named Palestino called me. I don't want to reveal the salary, so let's say I was earning '10' working as an engineer and Palestino offered me '2'. I took the job anyway," the Man City manager recently told the Irish Mirror.
"That was when my career definitely started."
Chile is home to one of the largest Palestinian communities in the world, with about 350,000 immigrants and their descendants.
The Chilean government has officially recognised an independent state of Palestine in 2011.
The row came as Palestinian and Israeli officials are involved in a US brokered fresh round of peace talks.
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