Mick Hartley

He Was Naive…

Written by

Mick Hartley

in

The waving of the Israeli flag by a Ghanaian player at the World Cup has caused a stir. Many people, especially Arabs, have been deeply offended. There have been complaints, and an apology has been issued:

The Ghanaian Football Association has apologised after defender John Pantsil waved an Israeli flag to celebrate the World Cup win over the Czech Republic.

Spokesman Randy Abbey said the Ghanaian FA was not taking sides in the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

Pantsil plays in Israel for Hapoel Tel Aviv wanted to thank Israeli fans who travelled to support him, Abbey said

“He’s unaware of international politics. We apologise to anybody who was offended,” said Abbey.

“We promise that it will never happen again.

“He did not act out of malice for the Arab people or in support of Israel. He was naive… we don’t need to punish him.”

Comments

  1. John Barr Avatar
    John Barr

    “Spokesman Randy Abbey said the Ghanaian FA was not taking sides in the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians”.
    Well, that’s reassuring. It would have been awful if the Ghananian FA had upset the delicate balance of Middle East politics. Another crisis averted and all that.

    Reply
  2. SnoopyTheGoon Avatar
    SnoopyTheGoon

    Hi Mick. Of course, the whole story and its coverage in the media are out of proportion. But the response of some people redefines “out of proportion” too.
    The infamous kabobfest blog is flaming about the issue for several days already, attracting comments like this one:
    Anonymous said…
    Seems like he was paid, If American aid money was used (US gives $15 billion a year to Israel) He should have had and American flag as well. Ok a smaller flag then Israel (we don’t want AIPAC to get upset) but still come Israel throw the US a bone. Please
    9:08 PM

    Reply
  3. IanLondon Avatar
    IanLondon

    Israel may have the Ghanaian FA, but the Arabs have got Ricky Martin !

    Reply
  4. dearieme Avatar
    dearieme

    When I saw the incident, I was struck that the commentator seemed to assume that it was a Ghanian flag. Dear Christ! Or perhaps, Dear Moses!

    Reply
  5. Juan Golblado Avatar
    Juan Golblado

    What a shame the Ghanaian team feels pressured to apologise about an honest demonstration of internationalism, and doubly so that it did apologise.
    The football world (and the rest of it as well) needs more “naive” people like John Pantsil.

    Reply

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