Jordanian soccer teams’ ugly rivalry reveals deeper divide
Al-Wehdat and Al-Faisaly teams' long-standing wrath displays ethnic divisions in Jordan.
AMMAN, Jordan — The decadeslong fight between Jordan’s soccer enemies Al-Wehdat and Al-Faisaly flared up again in June when the Jordan Football Association imposed fines on the two clubs and closed their games to the public.
The association’s disciplinary committee decided in early June, in accordance with Article 83 of the association’s disciplinary code, to play their games without spectators because of the discriminatory slogans and insults used by the two teams’ supporters on various occasions.
The decision of the association follows the two teams’ 60-year rivalry, which often included mutual mudslinging and slogans filled with ethnic insults that often dragged in the Jordanian royal family. The rivalry feeds on the ethnical differences of the fans of both teams: Jordanians of Palestinian origin mostly support Al-Wehdat, while East Bank Jordanians support Al-Faisaly.
During the Jordanian Pro League game on Dec. 16, 2016, the divide could not have been more clear when supporters of the two teams went head to head chanting. Al-Faisaly fans chanted in Arabic, “We are the country’s dignitaries,” while Al-Wehdat fans responded with the chant, “We are the uncles of the boy” — a reference to the fact that then-Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah II is of Palestinian origin (his mother Queen Rania al-Abdullah is Palestinian).
