Club Deportivo Palestino

History

The club was founded on 8 August 1920, when they participated in a colonial competition in Osorno. It was founded by a group of Palestinians; the name of the club reflects the origin in Chile's Palestinian community. According to American historian Brenda Elsey, "Leaders of the Arab immigrant community who hoped to find a niche within popular culture for their organizations decided to participate in football once again in 1940s".

In 1952, the Football Federation of Chile set up the first professional leagues. Palestino was accepted into the Second Division, which they won to attain promotion to the Primera División. In 1955, the club won their first national championship under the coaching of Argentine captain Roberto Coll. In that era, the club became known by the nickname millonario (Millionaire) because of their ability to attract top class footballers.

In 1978, the club won their second league title; this time the team was led by Chilean captain Elías Figueroa. In this campaign, they set a new record in the domestic tournament for the number of games unbeaten and soon won the Copa Chile to claim the league and cup double. In 2004, the club became a registered company, but the change of status did not bring the expected improvement in results. In 2006, they finished in 18th place out of 20 teams, forcing them to win a play-off against Fernandez Vial to keep their place in the top flight.

In the early 2000s, Chilean-Palestinian coach Nicola Hadwa recruited diaspora players for the Palestine national team. One notable player, Roberto Kettlun, born and raised in Chile, chose to represent Palestine and eventually moved to the West Bank to play for clubs such as Hilal Al-Quds and Ahli Al-Khaleel. He later returned to Palestino as sporting director, aiding in player recruitment and club development.

Palestino ended a 40-year trophy drought in 2018 by winning the Copa Chile, defeating Audax Italiano in the finals. Former Inter Milan and West Ham player Luis Jiménez, a Palestino academy graduate, returned late in his career to captain the team to victory. Following their domestic success, Palestino competed in the 2019 Copa Libertadores, facing top clubs such as Club Atlético River Plate and SC Internacional. While they did not progress far, the campaign elevated the club’s profile. As of October 2023, renewed conflict in Gaza has led the club to increase awareness and fundraising efforts related to Palestine.

Club image and culture

Mimicking the Flag of Palestine, the club's traditional colors have been red, green and black. Not only from Palestinians in Chile, Palestino has also attracted the support from Gaza sympathisers in the country and are considered as the "second national team" of Palestine.

Palestino have rivalries with other immigrant-founded Santiago clubs in the Chilean Primera División, mainly Unión Española (founded by Spanish immigrants) and Audax Italiano (founded by Italian immigrants). These games are known as the "Diaspora Derby" ().

In January 2014, Palestino was fined the equivalent of $1,300 for using a new team jersey in the club's traditional colors, but with the number one in the squad numbers on the back shaped as the map of Mandatory Palestine. Jewish communities in Chile and the Israeli government complained about the political significance of this, with a formal complaint to their national Federation being made by Patrick Kiblisky, owner of first-division club Ñublense. The jerseys were said to have been first used in December 2013, although the club said they were used in the prior season. The federation banned the club from using the map on the back of the shirts and imposed a fine on the club on the grounds that the Federation is opposed to "any form of political, religious, sexual, ethnic, social or racial discrimination". On its Facebook page, the club stated: "For us, free Palestine will always be historical Palestine, nothing less."

Honours

• Primera División
  • Winners (2): 1955, 1978
• Copa Chile
  • Winners (3): 1975, 1977, 2018
• Primera B
  • Winners (2): 1952, 1972

Current squad

Notable players

• ARG Juan Carlos Moreno
• CHI Manuel Araya
• CHI Marcelo Corrales
• CHI Rodolfo Dubó
• CHIARG Oscar Fabbiani
• CHI Elías Figueroa
• CHI Pedro Pinto
• PLECHI Roberto Bishara
• PLEISR Shadi Shaaban

Former coaches

• Chile Luis Tirado (1952)
• Argentina Antonio Ciraolo (1953)
• Yugoslavia Miodrag Stefanović (1955–57)
• Argentina Antonio de Mare (1958–59)
• Argentina Alejandro Scopelli (1960)
• Chile Hugo Tassara (1961–62)
• Argentina José Della Torre (1963)
• HungaryChile Ladislao Pakozdi (1963)
• Argentina (1964)
• Chile José Valdebenito (1964)
• Brazil Zezé Moreira (1964)
• Uruguay Enrique Fernández (1965)
• Argentina Alejandro Scopelli (1966)
• Chile Óscar Andrade (1967)
• Argentina Julio Baldovinos (1967)
• Uruguay (1968–69)
• Chile Sergio Lecea (1969)
• Chile Isaac Carrasco (1970)
• Chile Héctor Ortega (1970)
• Chile Dante Pesce (1971)
• Argentina Alejandro Scopelli (1971)
• Uruguay (1972)
• Chile Humberto Díaz (1972)
• Argentina Néstor Isella (1973)
• Chile Humberto Díaz (1973)
• Chile Caupolicán Peña (1974–76)
• Chile Fernando Riera (1977)
• Chile Caupolicán Peña (1977–80)
• Chile (1980)
• Chile Mario Tuane (1980–81)
• Chile (1981–83)
• Chile Sasha Mitjaew (1984)
• Brazil Elson Beiruth (1984)
• Chile (1984–85)
• Chile Víctor Manuel Castañeda (1986)
• Chile Orlando Aravena (1986–87)
• Chile Víctor Manuel Castañeda (1988)
• Chile Luis Ibarra (1988)
• Chile Eugenio Jara (1988–89)
• Chile Orlando Aravena (1989)
• Chile Víctor Manuel Castañeda (1989)
• Peru Guillermo Duarte (1990)
• Chile Manuel Pellegrini (1990)
• Chile Jorge Zelada (1991)
• Chile Manuel Pellegrini (1991–92)
• ArgentinaChile Fernando Cavalleri (1992)
• Chile (1992–93)
• Argentina Ricardo Dabrowski (1993)
• Chile José Sulantay (1994)
• Chile Elías Figueroa (1994–95)
• Chile Germán Cornejo (1995–96)
• Chile Orlando Aravena (1996)
• Chile Jorge Aravena (1996–97)
• Chile Manuel Pellegrini (1998)
• Argentina (1998)
• Argentina Ricardo Dabrowski (1998–2001)
• Chile Fernando Carvallo (2002)
• Chile Daniel Salvador (2003)
• PLEChile Nicola Hadwa (2004)
• Chile Ricardo Toro (interim) (2004)
• Chile (2004–05)
• Chile Fernando Carvallo (2005)
• Chile Daniel Salvador (2006)
• Chile Jaime Pizarro (2006–07)
• Chile Jorge Aravena (2007)
• Chile Luis Musrri (2007–09)
• Chile Jorge Aravena (2009–10)
• Chile Jaime Escobar (interim) (2010)
• Paraguay Gustavo Benítez (2010–11)
• Uruguay José Daniel Carreño (2012)
• Chile Emiliano Astorga (2012–14)
• Chile Jaime Escobar (interim) (2014)
• Argentina Pablo Guede (2014–16)
• Chile Nicolás Córdova (2016–2017)
• Chile Omar Toloza (interim) (2017)
• ArgentinaChile Germán Cavalieri (2017–18)
• Argentina Sebastián Méndez (2018)
• Chile Ivo Basay (2018–2020)
• Chile José Luis Sierra (2020-2021)
• Argentina Patricio Graff (2021)
• Argentina Gustavo Costas (2022)
• Argentina Vitamina Sánchez (2023-2024)
• Chile Jorge Schwager (interim) (2024)

Women's team

The Palestino women's team plays in the Campeonato Nacional Primera División de Fútbol Femenino, the top women's football competition in Chile.

In 2015 they won the Clausura tournament, thus ending a ten-season title streak by Colo-Colo. The captain, Ashraf Khatib, lifted the title. She was quoted as saying it was a pleasure to be the first actual Palestinian woman to lift the title in Chile.

Former Palestino forward María José Urrutia was a member of the Chile women's national football team for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup. With a header against Thailand in Chile's 2–0 win in the group stage, she became the first Chilean player to score a goal in the FIFA Women's World Cup.

Former Palestino defender Javiera Toro was also a member of the Chilean team at the 2019 tournament.

References

References

1. (8 April 2018). "Iván Bulos: en Chile indican que O'Higgins lo prestaría a Palestino ".
2. (24 December 2016). "En Argentina aseguran que Palestino buscaría a Fabbiani - AS Chile".
3. (27 February 2021). "Ya es "Tricolor": Palestino hizo oficial la compra de prometedor canterano de la UC".
4. Hernandez, Axl. (3 May 2024). "Soccer and politics mix at Chilean club that plays in Palestinian colors". [[AP News]].
5. (1 July 2011). "Citizens and Sportsmen: Fútbol and Politics in Twentieth-Century Chile". University of Texas Press.
6. Lomas, Mark. "How Chilean football club Deportivo Palestino captured the hearts of the Arab world". [[Esquire (magazine).
7. (2020-09-22). "'More than a team, it is an entire people': 100 years of Palestinian football in Chile".
8. Legrand, Christine. (2014-12-04). "Chile's Gaza sympathisers rally behind Palestinian football colours". The Guardian.
9. Legrand, Christine. (2014-12-04). "Chile's Gaza sympathisers rally behind Palestinian football colours". The Guardian.
10. (2020-07-05). "Palestino is more than a team; it's a whole people". Morning Star.
11. (21 January 2014). "Chile bans Palestino football club 'anti-Israel' shirt". BBC News.
12. (5 December 2015). "Sorpresa en Quilín: Palestino Femenino gritó campeón en la cara de Colo Colo". elgraficochile.cl.
13. (5 December 2015). "Palestino acaba con hegemonía de Colo Colo y se corona campeón nacional femenino". t13.cl.
14. (2019-06-20). "Women's World Cup: Chile penalty miss costs them last-16 tie against England".