In its written statement, Real Madrid Club stated that spectators will not be allowed in the match against Maccabi Rapyd at the Movistar Arena in Madrid on January 8, and said, “After the match was declared to be high risk at the meeting held with the State Commission against Violence, Racism, Xenophobia and Intolerance in Sports, Real Madrid complies with the recommendation of the National Police.” It was said.
Real Madrid stated that since the match will be played without spectators, ticket money will be refunded quickly and automatically, and that those who have a season ticket will receive a discount for the next season.
Barcelona Club announced in a statement last week that the Maccabi Rapyd match will be played without spectators.
Hundreds of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), first in Catalonia in Spain and then in Madrid, have been making attempts for weeks to cancel the Maccabi Rapyd match and protest against Israel on the grounds that it is “a way to legitimize the genocide committed by Israel in Palestine and to make human rights violations invisible by using sports.”
Finally, in the manifesto published by more than 250 NGOs in Madrid, they used the following statements:
“The participation of teams representing Israel in international sports competitions means the use of sports as a tool to justify the ongoing policy of occupation, apartheid and extermination. It contributes to the international normalization of the state of Israel, which is being investigated by the International Court of Justice for the crime of genocide against the Palestinian people. Sports cannot remain separate from international crimes or hide behind so-called neutrality. Allowing this match to be played is a political and symbolic complicity.”
Spanish NGOs will hold protests against Israel both in front of the Palau Blaugrana in Barcelona tomorrow and in front of the Movistar Arena in Madrid on January 8.