Attending the FIFA World Cup is something that has never crossed my mind, even as a big soccer fan myself.
Which is why, when it was announced that the World Cup would be hosted in the US (alongside Mexico and Canada) for the first time in over 30 years, I couldn’t pass up this opportunity.
Going alone would’ve been boring, so I asked the biggest soccer fan I could think of if he wanted to come, too: my father. Born and raised in Haifa, and now approaching 70 years of age, he was ecstatic to see a World Cup match – and told me by the end of it that it was the best sporting event he ever attended.
We rushed to buy tickets for the opening match, US vs Paraguay on June 12. This was particularly special to me to see an opening match played by my home country (before making aliyah) as the hosts too.
Paraguay, in particular, has been one of Latin America’s closest allies to Israel, having moved its embassy to Jerusalem and designating Hamas, Hezbollah, and the IRGC as terror organizations.
The United States national team is also the only group with a Jewish athlete – their goalkeeper, Matt Turner, who was their starter goalie in the previous tournament in Qatar. Though soccer fans will likely be more familiar with star athletes Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, and Sergino Dest.
The World Cup is happening as I’m in the middle of a student exchange program in Argentina (the winners of the last World Cup), so I flew to Los Angeles from Buenos Aires to meet up with my father, who flew in from Tel Aviv to view the USMNT’s first match on their home soil in over 30 years for the tournament.
Lo and behold, the game was simply a marvel to watch, as the USMNT defeated their opponent 4-1 with chants of “USA, USA!” dominating the stadium for 2 hours.
The World Cup isn’t without criticism
This year’s World Cup has undergone much scrutiny, including overpriced transportation and hotel accommodations, stadiums not selling out, and the refusal of entry of Somali referee Omar Artan into the US, among other officials and journalists who were denied visas.
However, the controversy that might be most connected with Israel and the Middle East is Iran’s participation in the tournament. They are slated to play their first match against New Zealand on Monday, a mere three days after the world watches the US’s first match in the same stadium.
But what was truly insane was what occurred after the match. As I exited SoFi Stadium, I saw Iranian demonstrators outside waving the lion and sun flags, Israeli flags, US flags, and signs with the image of Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi. I knew as soon as I spotted the flags that I had to interview them.
One demonstrator at the protest said that FIFA has allowed the flag of the Islamic Republic to be woven but “not our national flag,” referring to the lion and sun flag. “They’ve hijacked our identity. They’re trying to erase our identity as Iranians.”
The Iranian demonstrators agreed that the team should be kicked out of the World Cup: “The team doesn’t represent us. The players that have been sent here support a terrorist regime. They filter these people before they are sent as a national team. They represent the 1% minority of people that support the regime.”
In a message to Israelis, the protester said, “We feel everything you’ve been going through since October 7.”
Iran has said that it will cease playing in the World Cup if “unauthorized flags are displayed or slogans targeting the national team are chanted at stadiums,” Iranian media cited the regime’s Sports Minister Ahmad Donyamali.
The team representing Tehran’s participation has been in doubt since its war against the US and Israel earlier this year.
The writer is a producer for The Jerusalem Post and editor for the newspaper’s podcasts.
Jacob Gurvis/JTA and Reuters contributed to this report.
Source:
www.jpost.com
