FIFA President Sepp Blatter has called on Israel soccer leaders to ''urgently'' help a Palestine player on hunger strike. Mahmoud Sarsak, who has been in Israeli custody since 2009 without trial, has now been on hunger strike for almost three months.

Blatter has written to the Israel Football Association of his ''grave concern'' after receiving reports that ''several Palestine football players have allegedly been illegally detained.''

Blatter asks IFA President Avi Luzon to intervene with Israeli authorities with ''utmost urgency'' because of the ''alarming situation'' facing Mahmoud Sarsak.

Sarsak was stopped at a Gaza Strip checkpoint while traveling to an international match in 2009 and has been in administrative detention since then.

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