ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the contribution of the British Mandate to the modernization of football in Palestine in the years 1920 to 1948. It is suggested that the policy in Palestine involved non-intervention as long as British interests were not jeopardized. Three non-exclusive modalities are suggested to specify the colonialist (British) and natives' (Jews and Arabs) relationship in football: Linesman, Referee and Arbitrator. Although football was played in Palestine before the British, the latter had a specific effect on the modernization of the game in this part of the world. British teams, mostly related to the army, played football in various cup competitions, while a few individuals played in the ‘natives’ teams. The British also assisted in organizing the Football Association in Palestine. Furthermore, the British sometimes acted as referee, and in other times as arbiter. The actual modality was determined their general policy and the specific political atmosphere in Palestine at any particular period.
