Club Deportivo Palestino

For the Honduran football club, see Palestino FC.
Palestino
Full name Club Deportivo Palestino S.A.D.P.
Nickname(s) Tino
Árabes
Tricolor
Baisanos
Founded 20 August 1920
Ground Estadio Municipal de La Cisterna
Capacity 8,000
Chairman Jorge Uauy
Coach Vitamina Sánchez
League Campeonato Nacional
2023 Primera División, 4th of 16
Website Club website

Club Deportivo Palestino is a professional football club based in the city of Santiago, Chile. The club was founded in 1920 and plays in the Primera División de Chile. They play their home games at the Estadio Municipal de La Cisterna stadium, which has a capacity of approximately 8,000 seats.

History

The club was founded on 20 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".

Beginnings in professional football

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.

1955 title

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.

1978−present

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 face a play-off against Fernandez Vial to keep their place in the top flight. Ultimately the club would triumph thus preserving their spot within the Chilean first division.

The club made a surprising run to the final of the Clausura 2008 tournament, where they lost to champions Colo-Colo. Following this success, the club intends to float on the Chilean and Palestinian stock exchanges.

In January 2014, Palestino was fined the equivalent of $1,300 for using a new team jersey in the club's traditional colors, red, green and black, but with the number one in the squad numbers on the back shaped as the map of Palestine prior to the creation of Israel in 1948. Chilean Jewish groups 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

Players

Current squad

Current squad of Palestino as of 8 July 2022 (edit)
Sources: ANFP Official Web Site Palestino Official Web Site

No. Position Player
1 ARG GK César Rigamonti
2 ARG DF Fernando Meza
3 CHI DF Benjamín Rojas
4 CHI DF Antonio Ceza
6 CHI MF Nicolás Meza
7 CHI MF Bryan Carrasco
8 CHI MF Fernando Cornejo
10 CHI MF Misael Dávila
11 ARG FW Jonathan Benítez
12 CHI GK Ricardo Patiño
13 CHI DF Cristián Suárez
15 ARG FW Hernán Rivero
16 CHI DF José Bizama
No. Position Player
17 CHI DF Iván Román
19 CHI MF Brayan Véjar
20 CHI FW Benjamín Araneda
21 CHI DF Alan Riquelme
22 CHI MF Felipe Chamorro
23 CHI MF Ariel Martínez
24 CHI MF Maicol León
25 CHI FW Dylan Salgado
26 CHI GK Dixon Contreras
27 CHI FW Martín Araya
28 CHI DF Dilan Zúñiga
37 CHI FW Joe Abrigo

Manager: Vitamina Sánchez

2024 Summer Transfers

In

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
No. Pos. Nation Player

Out

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
5 MF ARG Agustín Farías (to Universidad Católica)
No. Pos. Nation Player
9 FW ARG Maximiliano Salas (Released)

Sponsors

Companies that Club Deportivo Palestino currently has sponsorship deals with include:

  • Alegrebet
  • UAZ

Former coaches

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.

See also