Palestine’s coach honoured in Rome as football becomes a lifeline for Gaza

ROME (MNTV) — In the gilded halls of the Italian Parliament, far from the rubble of Rafah, a son of Gaza received one of football’s most distinguished coaching honours.

Ihab Abu Jazar, head coach of the Palestine national football team, was presented with the Golden Bench Award by the Italian Football Federation — the highest recognition the federation bestows upon a coach. 

The ceremony, held in Rome, was attended by Palestinian Ambassador to Italy Mona Abu Amara and Palestinian Football Federation President Jibril Rajoub, lending the occasion a diplomatic weight that went well beyond sport.

The Golden Bench Award is granted annually by the technical department of the Italian Football Federation at the Coverciano Centre, and is regarded as one of the most prestigious distinctions for coaching excellence in Italian football. 

For it to be awarded to a Palestinian coach — in a Palestinian diplomatic setting, in the Italian Parliament — carried a symbolism that was difficult to ignore.

Son of Gaza carrying his nation’s flag

Born on 1 September 1980, Abu Jazar spent his playing career as a defender in the Palestinian national team before retiring from the game in May 2017 and moving into management. 

His first coaching role came at Markaz Shabab Al-Am’ari, before he was appointed to lead the Palestinian Under-23 side in December 2020. 

On 3 December 2024, he was handed the senior national team role, succeeding Makram Daboub as Palestine push through World Cup 2026 qualification. 

But the story of Ihab Abu Jazar cannot be told through football statistics alone.

Born in Rafah — a city in the southern Gaza Strip that has since been largely destroyed — Abu Jazar has described his position as the hardest job in world football. His family home was demolished during the genocide. His mother, Huda, was displaced. His assistant coach, Hani Al-Masdar, was killed while delivering aid in Gaza.

And yet, he kept coaching.

Speaking to AFP during the Arab Cup, Abu Jazar revealed that it is his mother — living in a tent amid the ruins — who keeps him focused. 

“She talks to me about nothing but the team,” he said. “She wants the focus to remain solely on the tournament.” 

Huda Abu Jazar, 62, has not seen her son in three years, with Israeli restrictions and the war sealing the borders between them. 

Yet during matches, she speaks to him and the players daily — asking about tactics, the starting lineup, team morale. 

“Despite everything we are living through, the team brought joy into our hearts,” she said. “My soul is attached to his.” 

More than a coach, more than a match

Under Abu Jazar’s guidance, the Palestinian national team turned the 2025 Arab Cup in Qatar into something far greater than a football tournament. Palestine reached the Arab Cup quarter-finals for the first time in their history, topping a group that included hosts Qatar, Tunisia and Syria. 

Back in Gaza, displaced fans gathered in improvised canvas cafes, pooling scarce electricity and internet access to watch their team — chanting from tents, waving flags, and taping posters of players to canvas walls.

Abu Jazar had told his players before every match that they were not playing only for themselves. 

He carried Gaza in his voice and in every step he took on the touchline — using the Arab Cup as a platform to remind the world that behind the numbers and results, there were people and stories.

The Italian recognition, then, arrives not just as a coaching award. It is an acknowledgement of a man who has turned an almost impossible role into an act of national resistance — and who continues to do so, one match at a time.