Australia’s ‘Socceroos’ will go where cricket team won’t – Bangladesh

Australia confirmed Friday that the Socceroos will travel to Bangladesh for their 2018 World Cup qualifier, with Football Federation Australia saying they were happy with the security plans in place.

Australia scrapped a two-Test cricket tour of Bangladesh last month, citing terrorism fears after official warnings militants may target Western interests, placing the November 17 football match in Dhaka in doubt.

But the FFA said Friday that the decision to travel to Bangladesh had been taken following on-going discussions with the governments of Australia and Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Football Federation, Fifa and the Asian Football Confederation.

“Right from the outset our number one priority has been the safety of our staff and players,” chief executive David Gallop said in a statement on the FFA website.

“Over the last month we have undertaken an extensive intelligence and risk management operation, driven by our world class security advisors and the relevant government and security agencies, and we are happy with the plans put in place.”

An FFA security delegation has been in Dhaka since Saturday to check security plans ahead of the Socceroos arrival in Dhaka on Monday.

The Socceroos will leave Sydney on Saturday – after beating Kyrgyzstan 3-0 in Canberra on Thursday night – and spend time preparing in Singapore before flying to Bangladesh the day before the game.

“Leading into the game against Kyrgyzstan we decided that if we travelled to Bangladesh it would be best to break up the trip so the players can properly recover from the first match and the travel they have already had to undertake to arrive in Australia,” coach Ange Postecoglou said in the same statement.

“We have previously prepared in Dubai for matches and flown in late and we feel under the current situation this is the best preparation for what we believe will be a tough match against Bangladesh.”

The FFA urged fans to carefully consider any plans to travel to Bangladesh for the match.

“While we are satisfied all parties have been able to put together a security operation to mitigate risk for the team heading to Bangladesh it is beyond the ability of FFA to implement and monitor safety plans for those outside the team,” Gallop said.

“We suggest fans carefully consider the travel advice on the (Australian government’s) Smartraveller website.”

At a glance

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Some of Darwish's last words

"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008

His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.