Scotland defeated Israel in the Women’s European Championship qualifier. The match was tinged with protests, although it was played behind closed doors for security reasons.
Scotland hosts Israel on Friday night in the Women’s European Championship qualifier at Hampden Park in Glasgow.
The Scottish Football Association had previously decided that the match would be played behind closed doors, i.e. without an audience, due to security concerns. The stadium staff had been tipped off about possible disturbances.
Demonstrations opposing Israel’s military actions in Gaza have also reached Britain.
Despite everything, a protester managed to get into the stadium and locked himself in the goalpost by his neck before the start of the match. The man’s shirt read “Red card for Israel”.
According to the BBC, the man had apparently entered the stadium using a high-visibility vest, which may have made him mistaken for an orderly.
Due to the incident, the teams were removed from the field and the start of the match was delayed.
The police were able to remove the man from the goal post at 19:20 local time, that is, about 15 minutes after the scheduled start of the match. The match started at 19:35, which is about half an hour late.
When the Israeli players returned to the field, they posed before the game with a t-shirt that read “Bring Them Home”. This was referring to the Israeli hostages held by Hamas. There was also a picture on the shirt Face from Levy that is, about the 19-year-old woman who was taken hostage by Hamas on October 7 from the Nahal Oz military base.
Uefa had ordered the match to be played, even though it was known that protesters would gather to demand Israel’s exclusion from international football.
A group called the “Gaza Genocide Emergency Committee” organized a protest before the European Championship qualifier demanding its cancellation.
At least the organizations called “Show Israel the Red Card” and “Scottish Friends of Palestine” demonstrated during the match outside the stadium demanding an immediate ceasefire. Among other things, the demonstrators shot off fireworks.
Scotland won the match 4–1 and leads the B-League qualifying group with 7 points. Serbia also has 7 spokes, Slovakia 3 and Israel zero. You can read more about the new qualifying system at the link below.
Israel and Scotland meet again on June 4. Israel’s home match will be played without an audience in Budapest.
Sources: BBC, Sky Sports
Helmarit will play again against the Netherlands in the EC qualifiers on Tuesday, June 4. will show the match live on TV2 and Areena, the broadcast will start at 18:30.