Along with a surprising tie, the Saturday night match between the Osasuna and Real Madrid teams of Spain's La Liga, the top men's professional soccer division of the Spanish football league system, provided Israel with local interest, as fans of the Spanish league joined the anti-Israel protest on European soccer fields.
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Fans of Spanish league soccer team Osasuna wave sign calling to boycott Israel
(Photo: Vincent / Reuters)
During the game, Osasuna fans waved a sign that read: "Show 'Israel' the red card," similar to the sign that Celtic fans waved during Wednesday's Champions League match against Bayern Munich, calling for Israel to be boycotted by FIFA and UEFA because of the Iron Swords War.
Posted on the X platform page of The Green Brigade, the ultras fan group of the Celtics team, was a call to
The Celtic fans organization's page of the X platform, the "Green Brigade," called for protests at soccer matches around the world to ban Israel from international competition: "At the start of the second half we will wave the sign calling on UEFA and FIFA to suspend Israel from all activity. We call on you to do the right thing, and join soccer fans around the world who support this message." The word Israel was marked in double quotation marks, a sign that the soccer fans were questioning its right to exist.
Soccer fans in Spain unveil banner calling for boycott of Israel
(Video: Courtesy of ONE sports channel)
‘Israel’ is committing genocide, ethnic cleansing and apartheid. In the last 15 months, at least 382 Palestinian footballers and 235 other athletes have been killed, including 96 children and 286 youths. The Israeli occupation has destroyed 147 football facilities and 140 other sports venues across Palestine. These crimes have no place in our beautiful game," the Celtic fans wrote.
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) is expected to investigate and punish Celtic over its fans, in part by imposing a financial fine, as it has done in several similar cases in the past. All eyes are now on the Spanish League, and how it will react to the Osasuna fans.