France-Israel football match: Is politics getting into sports?

Pro-Palestinian groups are calling on France against hosting a France-Israel football match on Thursday as the Israeli military operation in Gaza continues for 11 months, arguing that similar measures had been taken against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

Of the 80,000 seats at Stade de France, only 20,000 tickets had been sold at the time of publishing – representing a serious drop in turnout. Rodrigue Flahaut-Prevot, an attorney in Paris, stressed the need to keep politics and sport separate.

4,000 police officers are set to be mobilised for the match, compared to the typical 1,200 – 1,300 if the stadium is sold out. Israeli authorities have also recommended supporters against going to the match and alerted Israelis abroad against putting on recognisable symbols.

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The France-Israel football match is also in the limelight because it comes just days after violence exploded on the streets of the Netherlands. Measures are being beefed up to prevent the kind of clashes that broke out in the Dutch capital, before and after a match.

Leopold Lambert, an editor and architect in Paris, said the atmosphere in the French capital at the moment, at least for people focusing on both football and Palestine, is the “desire for a strong solidarity action to happen.”

Pro-Palestinian protesters have planned demonstrations in the evening. French President Emmanuel Macron plans to attend the game as a “message of fraternity and solidarity after the intolerable acts of anti-semitism” in the Netherlands.