As of: March 28, 2024, 8:37 p.m
By: Philipp Kuserau
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The German U21s achieved an important victory at the Leuna Chemie Stadium in Halle. However, the focus is on a pro-Israel banner that caused a stir.
Halle/Saale – The German U21 national team took a big step in the fight for a European Championship ticket with a confident 2-0 win against Israel. Thanks to the three points, the DFB youngsters are now leading their qualifying group as first in the table. However, the sporting success was overshadowed by unrest in the stands at the Leuna Chemie Stadium in Halle.
Spectators roll out pro-Israel banners at the U21 game
The trigger was a pro-Israel banner that was displayed in the stands on Tuesday evening and was ultimately removed by law enforcement.
As the two teams arrived, a poster with the inscription “Bring them Home now” was rolled out on the opposite stand. The banner's message refers to the approximately 130 Israeli hostages who were kidnapped by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023 and are being held captive there.
A pro-Israel banner was removed by law enforcement officers during the U21 international match between Germany. © IMAGO/BEAUTIFUL SPORTS/Luciano Lima
Fans had to be taken away due to heated atmosphere
According to the
German Press Agency,
the poster initially disappeared from the stands following a request from law enforcement - but only after quite some time. According to the DFB, an aggressive mood developed in that spectator area afterwards.
The association said groups of people with children would have had to be taken to other stadium segments due to the heated atmosphere.
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Law enforcement officers remove poster “for de-escalation reasons”
Shortly before the end of the game, the banner appeared again in the stands. This time, however, the law enforcement officers acted themselves and removed it immediately.
“When the banner (...) was shown again towards the end of the game, the law enforcement officers intervened for de-escalation reasons and removed the banner,” is how the DFB justifies the measure, which caused a lot of criticism, especially on social media.
Left-wing politician criticizes removal of banner during U21 game
Henriette Quade (Die Linke), a member of the state parliament in Saxony-Anhalt, described the actions on X (formerly Twitter) as “absurd and telling”.
The DFB still believes it is in the right and argues that the banner was not approved. “In principle, banners with political messages are not permitted in the stadium at UEFA games,” the association said in response to a request from the
dpa
.
During the U21 game between Germany and Israel: tumult in the stadium
According to a report in the
Mitteldeutsche Zeitung,
the poster's message also caused turmoil in the stadium. There were said to be shouts of “boos” in the stands and cups were also flown towards the area of the stadium where the banner was unrolled. The DFB only punished Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen in the spring because of a discriminatory poster.
(kus)