Boos, flags but no major security issues as Israel ties Mali in Olympic soccer opener
1,000 police deploy around stadium in Paris; jeers sound in stadium during playing of ‘Hatikvah,’ but players exchange friendly greetings; game ends 1-1
PARIS — Israel’s national anthem was loudly jeered before its soccer team kicked off play at the Paris Olympics against Mali on Wednesday night. However, the game passed without major security incidents and many fans from both sides sought to play down the political context and enjoy the action, as the match ended in a draw.
The event began with a massive security presence outside the stadium, where around 25,000 fans watched the game, amid an increasingly strained international climate that has Paris’s safety efforts squarely in the spotlight.
The Israel team arrived under a heavy police escort, with motorbike riders at the front and about a dozen riot police vans following behind. Armed police officers patrolled the Parc des Princes stadium, one with a rifle resting on his shoulder.
France deployed about 1,000 police officers, who cordoned off the streets around the Parc des Princes in western Paris and set up a perimeter a few kilometers away from the stadium. The Shin Bet also has a presence in Paris to ensure the security of the large Israeli delegation.
France’s Interior Minister, Gérald Darmanin, and Paris police chief Laurent Nunez arrived at the stadium at about 7:30 p.m. “We owe this security to the whole world,” Darmanin said. “The threats to our country are the threats that concern the Western world.”
The atmosphere outside the venue was generally calm. Fans from both countries mingled, holding up flags and posing for photos. Players from both teams shook hands and bumped fists before the start. It was the first time Israel played soccer at the Olympics since 1976.
President Isaac Herzog also attended the match along with his wife, Michal, and Culture and Sport Minister Miki Zohar.
Mali fans sang proudly when their anthem was played first.
When it came to Israel’s anthem, boos and whistles immediately rang out. The stadium speaker system playing the anthems then got notably louder in what seemed like an effort to drown out the jeers.
A handful of people at the start of the game stood near the pitch wearing white t-shirts each with a letter to read out “Free Palestine.” After a minute stewards intervened.
Palestinian flags were waved by a handful of spectators, which led to angry exchanges between them and Israeli fans.
When some spectators sported yellow stickers plastered with the words “Gaza: Silence kills,” they were told by stewards to remove them.
Once play began, Israeli players were booed when they touched the ball. Security officials intervened in what appeared to be a heated argument between some fans. The commotion occurred near where one woman was holding a Palestinian flag. Two other people holding Palestine flags then stood next to the woman.
The game finished 1-1, with Israel taking the lead after an own goal from defender Hamidou Diallo in the 57th minute. Mali equalized a few minutes later on Cheickna Doumbia’s powerful header, drawing wild celebrations from the large contingent of Mali fans.
“I don’t really care about the minority who don’t want Israel here,” said Michael Levy, 50, whose nephew Ethan plays in the Israeli team. He added that he was at the stadium to have fun and enjoy the football. “Antisemitism is a disease and I’m not here to be the cure.”
Mali, a mainly Muslim state, broke off ties with Israel in 1973 after the Yom Kippur war.
As a former French colony, there is a large Malian diaspora in France and they came out in force to back their players.
Dressed in a traditional dress in the yellow, green and red colors of Mali, Aisha Cisse, who had traveled from Bamako and follows the country’s soccer teams at all international tournaments, danced and sang her support saying she was simply here to watch The Eagles, the team’s nickname, win.
The Israel-Mali match offered a first snapshot of how other competitors and the wider public respond to Israeli participation in the games.
The Paris 2024 Games take place five decades after Palestinian terrorists killed 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
At their training headquarters in Croissy, some 20 kilometers west of Paris, the Israeli players the day before the game sought to come across as relaxed, but there was some tension in the air.
Media minders yelled “only football” when reporters attempted to ask questions about the political backdrop.
“We came here to win and achieve things with this team and are very excited,” Omri Gandelman, a midfielder who plays for Belgian side Gent, told reporters. “We have a job to do.”
All Israeli athletes at the Paris Games, which start officially on Friday, will have round-the-clock personal security provided by elite French police, both inside the Olympic village and every time they leave the compound in northern Paris.
Europalestine, a French activist group behind recent protests, had told the Guardian newspaper that it was planning a peaceful demonstration inside the stadium to protest the “genocide” in Gaza.
“We do not take [the threat] lightly, we are on high alert and all athletes have been informed of the situation,” said Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer. “Our duty to protect our athletes, in cooperation with the French authorities, is of the utmost importance.”
The head of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach and French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday rejected a Palestinian demand that Israel be barred from the Paris Games over the war in Gaza.
Israel’s soccer team will face Paraguay on Saturday evening, and Japan on Tuesday. The opening ceremony of the games will be held on Friday, and Herzog is slated to attend.
