Arab Palestine Sports Federation

The Arab Palestine Sport Federation, (Arabic: الإتحاد الرياضي العربي الفلسطيني‎‎, al-Ittihad al-Riadi al-'Arabi al-Filastini) also known as APSF, was a governing body of sport activities for Palestinian Arabs in Mandatory Palestine. The federation was active between 1931 and 1937 and between 1944 and 1948. It organized a variant of activities in various sports, mostly in football, Boxing and Weightlifting.

Sporting events among the Arab populace of Ottoman Palestine started at the beginning of the 20th century. The first Arab football club, St. George School was established in 1908, and in 1911 a social athletic club, Circle Sportive (al-Muntada al-Riyadi) was established in Jerusalem's Old City, which organized several events, including a 1,800 meter street race in Jerusalem. After World War I, further clubs were established in Jerusalem, Jaffa, Gaza and Haifa, as well as in Arab villages throughout the country, numbering at about 20 around 1930

In 1928, the Palestine Football Association was established. This governing body was initiated by the Jewish clubs, and later turned into the Israel Football Association. The dominance of the Jewish clubs in the PFA, and the disenfranchisement of the Arab clubs led the Arab clubs to establish its own organization. In March 1931 a national Arab-Palestinian football team was organized to meet a visiting team from American University of Beirut, and three months later, at a meeting held in Jaffa, the Arab Palestine Sports Federation was established.

...
Wikipedia