Several Jewish organizations have criticized a Polish prosecutor’s decision not to try soccer fans who chanted about Jews and Auschwitz. A spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office of Poznan in central Poland said last week that no charges would be brought against the fans because they did not mean to offend Jews when they chanted the…
A Dutch soccer team said it was an “understandable but unfortunate” decision to leave behind its Israeli player to attend a training week in Abu Dhabi. In a statement posted over the weekend on its website, the Arnhem-based club Vitesse also said it “offers its regrets to people who were offended in any manner or…
Normally, when a sports team decides to redesign its uniforms, the decision isn’t considered a major news story. But when Chile’s El Palestino soccer club began wearing jerseys that show the entire map of Israel as Palestine, it met with an intense Jewish backlash — and it’s easy to see why. By using a one-state…
A soccer team in Chile’s top league has ignited controversy with its uniforms showing the entire map of Israel as Palestine. The uniforms of the Palestine Football Club, which was founded in 1920 by Palestinian immigrants to Chile, has the map on the back of the jerseys replacing the numeral 1. Local and global Jewish…
Israel’s soccer association suspended its ban on wearing kippot for its minor leagues following protests by athletes and politicians. The regulation had been handed down by the Union of Soccer Referees in recent weeks, according to a report Friday by Army Radio. The union said it was hewing to the rules of the FIFA International…
A German soccer team withdrew from a sponsorship agreement with Saudi Arabia’s national airline because it refuses to ticket Israeli citizens. The FSV Frankfurt team abrogated the contract with Saudia this week after criticism leveled by Jewish groups and other organizations, according to the Associated Press. The airline’s refusal to transport Israeli citizens was first…
Dana Schwartz, a member of two U.S. teams to win the Maccabiah Games gold medal in women’s soccer, moved to Israel and will play professionally there. Schwartz, 21, of Nashville, Tenn., became an Israeli citizen on Sunday with the assistance of Nefesh B’Nefesh. She will play for the ASA Tel Aviv club, part of Israel’s…
English soccer is having a Jewish moment. The conclusion of David Bernstein’s term as chairman of the Football Association (FA) in July in tandem with the publication in paperback in August of Anthony Clavane’s “Does Your Rabbi Know You’re Here?” brought the matter of the contribution of Jews to the beautiful game to the fore….
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