Egypt’s manager raises Palestinian flag after World Cup knockout win
Video shows Hossam Hassan holding flag to chants of ‘free free Palestine’; Wimbledon backs Turkish player, says watermelon racket dampener not disruptive to game
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The Egyptian national soccer team’s manager, Hossam Hassan, held up a Palestinian flag after his team’s win in the World Cup round of 32 on Friday night, beating Australia in penalties.
Speaking to the press after the final whistle in Dallas, Hassan dedicated his team’s victory to the “good and noble” Egyptian and Palestinian people.
“My heart and soul are with them,” he said in an emotional post-game interview.
A video of Hassan on social media shows him walking around the pitch holding the flag as people chanted “free free Palestine.” The video went viral.
Hassan is not known to be religious or connected to any political group. In the 1980s and 1990s, he was adored by the youth, a street soccer player who played in the slums.
It wasn’t immediately clear if FIFA would seek to take any action, and it didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. It has previously sought to restrict what it sees as political statements on the pitch.
Egypt Manager Hossam Hassan Raises Palestinian Flag After Historic World Cup Win (3 July 2026) pic.twitter.com/6ihX9J886i
— Desi_UHD (@Desi_UHD) July 4, 2026
The Egyptian team is set to play superstar Lionel Messi and the Argentine national team in their round of 16 match on Tuesday in Atlanta.
Wimbledon backs pro-Palestinian Turkish tennis player
Elsewhere in sports, organizers of the Wimbledon tennis tournament said Saturday that a Turkish player’s use of a pro-Palestinian symbol as a tennis racket shock absorber does not meet the standards of making a political statement.
Zeynep Sonmez had been prevented from wearing a Palestinian flag pin, and instead opted to use a shock absorber on her racket that depicted a watermelon.
Watermelons are often used as a replacement symbol for the Palestinian flag because the colors — red, white, green, and black — are the same.
Sonmez has said she was banned from wearing a Palestinian flag pin, which she used to wear, instead opting for the watermelon dampener that she has said organizers can’t object to.
She also suggested hypocrisy on the part of tournament organizers, noting that Ukrainian flags are permitted.
“We don’t allow political messaging from players on court, certainly [messages] that cause any type of disruption, so that has been consistent across the rules for a long time,” said Jamie Baker, tournament director.
“In terms of the watermelon, we don’t think that’s meeting the threshold for causing any type of disruption,” he said.
Images suggest Sonmez has used the watermelon dampener at previous tournaments. Wimbledon has particularly stringent rules in terms of dress code.
The Times of Israel Community.