Israel’s national anthem was met with jeers from the audience before its Olympic soccer match against Mali.
As the Paris 2024 Olympics are underway, Israel’s national anthem was met with boos from the audience before Israel’s Olympic soccer match against Mali on Wednesday night, according to the Associated Press.
While under heightened international tensions and significant safety concerns of large-scale protests in the stadium, the Israeli soccer team arrived at Parc des Princes stadium escorted by a substantial police presence, including motorbike riders and riot police vans.
While fans from both countries seemed to remain calm in the 48,000-capacity stadium, as the Israeli national anthem, Hatikvah, began to play it was drowned out by boos and whistles, AP reported.
According to the AP, the stadium’s speaker system became notably louder, seemingly in an attempt to overpower the jeers.
Meanwhile, Mali’s anthem was met with proud singing from its supporters.
However, throughout the game, Israeli players faced continuous booing whenever they touched the ball.
In addition, more contention came when security personnel had to step in during a heated altercation among fans, where a woman was holding a Palestinian flag, joined by two others with similar flags.
