The head of world football’s governing body said yesterday Israel had proposed easing travel restrictions for Palestinian players but the head of the Palestine FA in-sisted on a move to have Israel suspended from FIFA.

After meeting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and football officials in the West Bank, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said Israel had set out a series of measures to ease travel curbs for players, sports visitors and officials.

Similar commitments have been made in the past, but Blatter said this time Israeli officials had “said they will do it”, a commitment he hopes will stave off the threat of a suspension vote at a FIFA congress on May 29.

“I am an optimist,” Blatter said as he sat alongside PFA chairman Jibril Rajoub, who has mounted a determined campaign to have Israel sanctioned, a move that could have profound ramifications beyond the world of sport.

The PFA has long accused Israel of hampering its activities and restricting the movement of players between the Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Israel cites security concerns for the restrictions, an issue that Israel’s FA says is out of its hands.

Blatter met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday in an effort to secure concessions that would persuade the PFA to drop its proposal.

He said Israel had proposed giving Palestinian players special identity cards and placing special sports liaison officials at crossings between Palestinian areas and those under Israeli control to ease movement.