Four days before the Palestinian and Iranian soccer teams were to meet for a friendly, the Palestinian Football Association canceled the match due to “technical” problems, sparking outrage and rumors that the cancellation had been instigated by Arab countries in the Persian Gulf.

In a letter addressed to the Iranian team, the secretary-general of the Palestinian Football Association wrote of the scheduled Dec. 28 friendly, “I want to take this opportunity to thank you for the planning that was done for this meeting. But, unfortunately, I have to inform you that due to technical reasons after returning from China and preparing for the AFC Asian Cup in Australia, the Palestinian team is not able to meet.”

The letter continued, “We are aware of the importance of this meeting [which is] based on historical brotherliness of the two teams,” and the secretary-general added that he hoped the two teams could continue their cooperation in the future.

When news of the cancellation broke, many websites included an exclamation point at the end of their headlines to demonstrate their dissatisfaction with the late cancellation. Some news websites that republished the letter headlined their story, “Apology from Palestinians after cancelling friendly with Iran,” but some readers in the comments section were quick to point out that the letter contained no such apology.