Fans of the Israeli football club Maccabi Haifa showed a banner with reference to Poland in World War II in Hungary. High -ranking politicians are involved in the UEFA.
“Murderer since 1939” was on the saying band that fans of Maccabi Haifa showed in the second leg of the 3rd qualification round of the Conference League against the Polish club Raków Częstochowa. The game took place in the Hungarian debrecen, Israeli teams are currently not allowed to play home games on their own territory for security reasons.
UEFA opened Disciplinary procedure
The UEFA opened a disciplinary procedure. An article in the statutes prohibits the “Transmission of a message unsuitable for a sporting event”. This often punishes discriminatory, insulting and offensive transparent and chants.
Such a procedure was also initiated Raków Częstochowa. Fans of the club also had a banner with the inscription in the first leg “Israel murder and the world is silent” shown. A reference to this poster is obvious.
Poland’s president reacts outraged
Poland President Karol Nawrocki reacted indignantly: “It insults the memory of the Polish citizens who died in the Second World War, including three million Jews. A stupidity that cannot be justified in words.” A decision will “In due course” announced, the UEFA said.
Poland President Karol Nawrocki
In 1939 Nazi Germany attacked Poland, the Second World War began. Almost six million Poles were killed in the war. These include around 3 million Polish Jews who were murdered by the Nazis in the Holocaust, many in the German extermination camps. Before the war, the Jewish population in Poland was the largest in Europe.
Again and again there was allegations that Poland was jointly responsible for the murder of some Jews, for example by delivery to the Germans. Poland always contested this, since 2018 a new law has been in use with the topic: Anyone who attributes Poland as a nation as a nation on the Holocaust must now expect a prison sentence there. Sharp criticism of the law came from Israel from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israel’s embassy: “shameful incidents”
The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that an official of the ministry met with the Israeli ambassador in the morning and “His extreme indignation about the outrageous content of the banner expressed”. Israel’s embassy in Poland called the poster “horribly” and wrote: “These shameful incidents do not reflect the attitude of the majority of Israeli fans. “
Haifa left a 0: 2 after the 1-0 victory in the first leg. Raków Częstochowa now meets Pfk Arda Kardschali from Bulgaria in the Conference League playoffs.