Tiktekno: clip summarizing today's events in sport, 27.3/Sport1
A day after the game of the young team in Germany, during which the security guards at the stadium in the city of Halla took down a sign demanding the return of the hostages held in Gaza by the terrorist organization Hamas, this evening (Wednesday) the German association officially commented on the decision to remove the sign and prevent it from being displayed.
Germany is one of the countries that supports Israel the most, certainly when it comes to the football and basketball stadiums where quite a few teams and fan organizations express their strong support for Israel and especially for the Israeli hostages who are being held captive, and perhaps because of this the removal of the sign was received as a great surprise by many.
Signs calling for the return of the abducted at the game of the young Israeli national team in Germany/GettyImages, Reinaldo Coddou H
Now the German association addressed this for the first time, when it responded to the request of the "Bild" newspaper reporter as follows: "Signs with political messages are prohibited in the stadium at UEFA games. In addition, this is a sign whose entry has not been approved in advance like the other signs. The sign was raised when the teams came to the grass and the fans were asked to take it down, and they did so. When the sign was raised one more time towards the end of the game, the security at the venue had to take it down to prevent escalation."
The removal of the sign caused widespread criticism against the German association, including from a German member of parliament who tweeted that it was an "absurd decision". At the stadium, according to the "Mitteldeutsche Zeitung" , a number of German fans threw glasses at the Israeli crowd and reacted with contempt when the sign was raised.
More on the same topic:
Israel's national team
abducted