Reactions against Israel grow in Spanish sports

MADRID / ISTANBUL

Reactions against Israel are growing in various Spanish sports clubs, with some refusing to allow Israeli teams to use their facilities or postponing their matches.

According to a report by Catalan radio station RAC1, Barcelona responded negatively to the Israeli team Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem’s request to use the Blaugrana Hall facilities in the morning before their EuroCup match against Baxi Manresa on October 15 at the Nou Congost arena, citing public order concerns.

RAC1 announced that Barcelona did not open its doors to the Israeli team “on grounds of logistics and public order.”

Meanwhile, Spain’s State Commission Against Violence, Racism, Xenophobia, and Intolerance in Sports declared the Baxi Manresa-Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem match a “high risk.”

The commission called on Baxi Manresa, as the organizing club, to “take the necessary steps to strengthen security measures.”

Some Baxi Manresa fan groups issued a statement calling for the suspension of the match between the Catalan club and the Israeli team to protest Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

In a message posted on social media, the fan groups stated: “We firmly believe that basketball cannot exist in a bubble isolated from the reality that surrounds us. While the State of Israel is committing genocide, we find it absolutely unacceptable to have an Israeli team in our own stadium. Our message is clear and strong. Human life is far more important than any sporting event.”

Request to postpone Laguna Tenerife-Bnei Herzliya game

A similar reaction against Israeli teams occurred in the Canary Islands.

A request was made to postpone the Laguna Tenerife-Bnei Herzliya game in the Basketball Champions League, scheduled to be played on October 14 in Tenerife, Canary Islands.

La Laguna Mayor Luis Yeray Gutierrez told the Spanish press that “we cannot whitewash genocide through sports,” requesting the postponement of the Laguna Tenerife-Bnei Herzliya match.

Gutierrez emphasized that in recent days, various unions and civil society organizations, such as the Workers’ Commissions and the Canary Islands Trade Union Federation, had demanded that this basketball match not be played.

The mayor argued that “strong measures must be taken against the genocide committed by Israel against the Palestinian people,” adding: “More than 60,000 people have been killed. The war in Gaza has led to the deaths of 20,000 children.”

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, in a statement on September 15, demanded that Israel be banned from all international sports competitions due to the genocide in Gaza, similar to the decisions taken against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

Gerardo Candina, president of Bizkaia Gernika, the first club in Spain to decide not to play against Israeli teams, said: “We are completely against the brutal genocide in Gaza. I think everyone needs to accept this. We won’t be playing this game.”

He announced that they would not participate in either match against Israel’s Elitzur Ramla team in the EuroCup women’s group stage.

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