Germany-Israel youth match marred by political banner dispute

The attention of the entire world was drawn to an incident that took place at a match between the youth teams of Germany and Israel in Halle. The organizers of the match decided to remove a banner hung by Israeli fans. It advocated for the release of prisoners held by Hamas.

On Tuesday, the youth teams of Germany and Israel competed in a Euro U21 qualifying match. As expected, the hosts secured a comfortable victory, defeating their opponents 2:0.

The match probably wouldn't have attracted much attention if not for the controversy surrounding a pro-Israeli banner. Fans from Israel, alongside the national flag, also displayed a banner with the message "release them home" accompanied by pictures of several individuals attached to the barriers.

The banner refers to events from October 7th of the previous year. On that day, the fundamentalist organization Hamas carried out an attack on Israeli territory, abducting about 130 citizens of the country. The abducted individuals are still in captivity.

Journalists from "Mitteldeutsche Zeitung" report that the banner was met with hostility from German fans. Boos echoed from other sectors of the stadium, and even plastic cups were hurled towards the Israeli fans.

The display of the banner also prompted a response from the match organizers. Security services at the stadium instructed the Israeli fans to take down the banner. Although they initially complied with this request, they revealed the banner again towards the end of the match. At this point, security intervened, confiscating the banner.

After the match ended, the German Football Association (DFB) issued a statement outlining the strict response of the security services to a banner that essentially conveyed a peace message. The explanation referenced UEFA recommendations and also mentioned the hostile reaction of other fans.

"Essentially, during UEFA matches, displaying banners with political messages in the stadium isn't allowed. Moreover, the banner wasn't registered in advance... When the banner was displayed again at the end of the match, law enforcement officers intervened to de-escalate the conflict and removed it," announced the DFB.

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