European Football Championship 2024
Play-offs in wartime – emotional games for Israel and Ukraine
As of: 4:53 p.m. | Reading time: 3 minutes
Iceland national coach Åge Hareide. The photo shows him still as coach of Malmö FF at the end of 2022
Quelle: dpa/Andreas Gora
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Two countries in which war dominates everyday life are playing in the play-offs for the 2024 European Football Championship. With a view to the tournament in Germany, the fates of the national teams are closely intertwined. Israel and Ukraine could meet in the final.
Åge Hareide largely stuck to his opinion. The Icelandic national coach emphasized that he was a peace-loving person. And the situation in Gaza is very unpleasant for everyone involved: “But I am not on either side of this conflict. We will play against footballers, not soldiers.”
The last sentence should calm minds a bit before the European Championship play-off game between Hareides Icelanders and Israel on Thursday (8:45 p.m., in the WELT sports ticker). The Norwegian football veteran had previously been unusually open about his opponent’s participation in the qualification. He would prefer not to play against Israel. “Because of what is happening in Gaza and because of what they have done to women, children and other innocent civilians,” Hareide said.
Block Israel?
In Israel, which was shaken by the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023, Hareide’s views outraged. They were sometimes interpreted as if the 70-year-old was an opponent of Israel. The Israeli national coach Alon Hazan wanted to defuse the situation like Hareide before the duel, which was moved to Budapest due to the war. “I read it, I heard it. I don’t care what he said. “I’m interested in football,” said the 56-year-old.
Wants to concentrate on football: Israel coach Alon Hazan
Quelle: picture alliance / AA
But blocking Israel was an issue on two levels. Twelve associations from the Middle East, including Palestine, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, called for expulsion from the world association Fifa. He has not yet responded to the request. It is said to be discussed at the FIFA Congress in Bangkok on May 17th.
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The European association UEFA, on the other hand, has already made it clear that it sees no reason to act. When asked about a ban on Israel and national clubs similar to that imposed on Russia after the attack on Ukraine, General Secretary Theodore Theodoridis said at the beginning of February: “There was neither a discussion nor the intention to do so. They are two completely different situations between two countries.”
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With a view to the European Championships in Germany, the fates of the national teams of Israel and Ukraine are closely intertwined. Because only one person gets the ticket. If Israel defeats Iceland and Ukraine prevails in Bosnia-Herzegovina at the same time, there will be a direct duel five days later.
Sport and politics are closely linked
A comment from the opposing coach also caused unrest in the run-up to the Ukraine game. “The situation and the problems in Ukraine are their problems,” Savo Milosevic told the Bosnian portal Federalna. This was also taken as a statement regarding the war situation in Ukraine.
It was enough for the Ukrainian website Football24 to write about “revenge” for the provocative statements. Coach Serhij Rebrow used it as a template to motivate the team. “I really liked it when the head coach told us during the theory that there are a lot of statements from the opponents, but we will show everything on the football field and then we will give an answer,” said defender Olexander Karavayev.
Sport and politics are obviously difficult to separate. There are many opinions, which leads to discussions. Sigurdur Gísli Snorrason, a semi-successful Icelandic professional soccer player and prominent podcaster, criticized Hareide and called for a focus on sport. “I don’t talk about his opinion, it’s normal. But you are the coach of the national team that plays against Israel and you talk like that? Just let it be.”