Egyptian soccer referee urges boycott of Israel

Israel is a “cancerous tumor” that must be “torn out” of the Arab and Muslim body — and barred from hosting international soccer tournaments — according to an Egyptian soccer referee.

“This Zionist Entity is planted, like a cancerous tumor, in the body of the Arab and Islamic nation. We must tear it out and, until we do, we must fight it as much as we can,” Nasser Sadeq Abdel Naby said in an interview on Egyptian television earlier this month that has been translated by MEMRI.

Speaking out against Israel’s hosting of the European Under-21 Championship this summer, Abdel Naby said, “We hope to shake UEFA and FIFA, so that Israel can never again organize a World Cup or any other championship. UEFA and FIFA will think a thousand times before granting them the privilege of hosting championships. They will remember that the whole world turned against them.”

Abdel Naby also railed against the notion of Arab satellite TV station Al-Jazeera broadcasting the games from Israel to the Arab world, saying, “We must prevent this. If this famous channel does not refrain from doing so… if this is true, we will write to Al-Jazeera. If they persist, we will call to boycott it.”

No Arab or Muslim countries are involved in the European Under-21 Championship. The eight teams competing in the tournament are England, Germany, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Russia and Spain.

Last November, UEFA celebrated as Israel revealed the special blue-and-white design of the balls to be used during the tournament, with games to be hosted in  in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Petah Tikvah and Netanya.