Born in 1937 in Jerusalem, in 1957, he
joined Nadi al-Muwazzafin (Employees Club) in Jerusalem where he became
its secretary for a period of 18 years. He formed a football team
with his colleagues Nadi Khouri, Faez Abdel A’al, Mahmoud Qattan, Adel Sharaf
and Samir Sharaf. He was a member of the team who played against the Algerian
Liberation Army’s team in the 1950’s. Al-Ansari was a teacher of physical education
and a football coach; he trained teams in and around Jerusalem, such as al-Mowazzafin,
Silwan, Abu Deis and Wadi Qaddom. At the same time he was a first class referee
in football.
Al-Ansari was one of the
founders of the League of Referees in the West Bank in 1975. In his book The Clubs League: How, When Was
Established?! [Rabitat al-Andiya, Kaifa, Mata Ta’assasat], he stated:
In September 25th 1975 we
the referees Muhammad al-Muhder, Ya’qub al-Ansari, Ahmad al-Naji, George
Qassis, Odeh Bishara, Muhammed Abdel Bari, Muhammed al-Samhuri, Nadi Khouri
reviewed the issues of refereeing, we found that the lack of a league is
causing problems to us, so we decided to found a league. At that meeting we
formed the league of referees.
At
the same time in 1975, Al-Ansari took part in founding Rabitat al-Andiya (League
of Clubs) in the south provinces of the West Bank (Jerusalem, Bethlehem and
Hebron). Al-Ansari was a member of its preparatory committee and he represented
Jerusalem’s clubs. In 1980, Rabitat al-Andiya included all clubs from
all regions in the West Bank. It functioned as a ministry of sports at the time
when the West Bank suffered from the lack of government institutions. Because
of the establishment of the Palestinian Authority, Rabitat al-Andiya was
dissolved in 1993. Many who lived during the seventies and eighties consider
the condition of sports during this period Riyadat al-Zaman al-Jamil
(Sports of the Good Time) .
During my visit to Palestine in
December 2011, I met Yacoub al-Ansari in Ramallah in a sports shop owned by the
well-known sports activist, teacher and coach Nadi Khouri. We talked for about
two hours. We agreed that he will inform me about his book (History of Sports in Palestine) which he has been preparing for three decades . Unfortunately, al-Ansari died a few months later in
Jerusalem in May 2012. He was 75. When I met him he looked great and was in
a good shape. His death was a shock for everyone. Few months later, in
September, about 20 clubs and foundations took part in the memorial service of
the late al-Ansari.
Later, I contacted one of his relatives to
know about the future of his book, and I was told that the book is in its final
stages; the plan is to publish it with the Institute for Palestine
Studies, for it contains valuable historical information in addition to rare
photographs.
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