Fans won’t get the chance to watch Scotland Women and Israel Women meet at next Friday’s European Championship football qualifier at Hampden Park, Glasgow, because of security fears sparked by ongoing pro-Gaza protests—setting another precedent for civil society going into hiding rather than stand up to disruptive pro-Palestinian protesters.
Not satisfied with forcing Cambridge University to break its centuries-old tradition of holding graduation ceremonies at Senate House, pro-Palestine activists are also working hard to disrupt upcoming football matches.
Until they succeed in banning Israel from FIFA, world football’s governing body, altogether, protesters are hoping to show up at matches involving Israeli representatives. Once there, protestors will “show [Israel] the red card,” attempting to shame the victims of the October 7th Hamas terror attacks,
Members of the Gaza Genocide Emergency Committee campaign group are soliciting tickets for the Hampden Park match on social media, after match organisers restricted attendance to club supporters and previous women’s game attendees. The campaigners asked activists to “join our protest” during the match.
This helped to form the intimidated Scotland Football Association’s view that it had “no option” but to stage the European qualifier behind closed doors. A spokesman said its “stadium operations team were alerted to the potential for planned disruptions” and later announced ticket refunds “following extensive security consultations with all key parties.”
Officials told fans that “we apologise for any inconvenience caused by the decision, but the safety of supporters, players, team staff and officials is of paramount importance.”
The decision, according to author Ellis Cashmore, will let pro-Palestine protesters know that “they can totally disrupt games” across the rest of the Championship competition with ease.
Responding to the news, an Israeli FA spokesman told Telegraph Sport that “we are not intimidated by anything,” although they admitted that they have been forced to host “our women’s matches at the moment away from home and behind closed doors.”
