Jewish human rights organisation the Simon Wiesenthal Center on Wednesday urged UEFA to act on alleged anti-Semitic chants during a friendly match between Austria and Bosnia.
The Los Angeles-based group, which combats anti-Semitism and terrorism while promoting human rights, called on UEFA president Michel Platini to punish the Bosnian Football Association.
The Center claims to have a video of Bosnian fans chanting ‘Kill the Jews’ while waving Palestinian flags.
In a letter to Platini, the Center’s director for international relations Dr. Shimon Samuels urged UEFA to “take the strongest disciplinary measures against the Bosnian Football Association.”
“This action debases the beautiful game and presages violence in sport from a new Jihadist-Nazi alliance,” added Samuels.
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition
by email and never miss our top stories
By signing up, you agree to the
terms
The alleged incidents took place during a friendly match in Vienna between Austria and Bosnia.
The letter comes just a few days after the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) asked FIFA to ban Israel from international competition over “racist behavior against Arabs”.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter rejected any such possibility on Tuesday ahead of a meeting with PFA chief Jibril Rajoub in Cairo.
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
— Gabriella Jacobs, multimedia journalist
Support our work
Support our work
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
