Argentina National Soccer Team Ignores BDS Call, Will Play In Israel
Argentina’s Lionel Messi eyes the ball during the 2018 World Cup football qualifier match against Ecuador in Quito, on October 10, 2017. Image by PABLO COZZAGLIO/AFP/Getty Images
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (JTA) — Two-time soccer world champion Argentina will travel to Israel to play a friendly match between the two national teams despite pressure from BDS activists.
The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel, which launched a global campaign against the match including sending letters to Argentine sports figures, so far has been unable to stop the match scheduled for June 9.
The Argentinean National Secretary of Sports and the Argentine Football Association received a letter signed by the Argentinean Committee of Solidarity with Palestine calling to cancel the match. The letter says that cancellation of the friendly match “would represent the solidarity values of the Argentine people towards other people’s victims of oppression, apartheid and genocide.”
On Sunday, the main sport national television channel that covers the representative squads in the country’s major sports, TyCSports, announced that it would broadcast the match live on June 9. The Israeli event organizer Cometc also published details of the match on its website.
The venue of the match is not yet confirmed, with Teddy Kollek stadium in Jerusalem and Samy Ofer Stadium in Haifa the most probable locations.
The announcement of the match on both sides of the ocean means that, despite the BDS campaign, Israeli fans will have the opportunity to see the global soccer stars Lionel Messi, who currently plays for Barcelona; Sergio “Kun” Aguero who plays for Manchester City; and Angel Di Maria, who plays for Paris Saint-Germain. Argentina’s team will fly directly from Israel to Russia for the World Cup.
Lionel Messi, who will play for the Argentinian national team at the 2018 World Cup Russia, serves as a brand ambassador for an Israeli start up company.
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