Ireland women's basketball team refuse to shake hands with Israel before their EuroBasket 2025 qualifier in Riga.

In an interview on the Israeli Basketball Association’s website, Israeli player Dor Saar said before the game: "It’s known that they are quite anti-semitic and it’s no secret, and maybe that’s why a strong game is expected.

“We have to show that we’re better than them and win. We talk about it among ourselves. We know they don’t love us and we will leave everything on the field always and in this game especially.”

Basketball Ireland’s statement prior to the start of the game read: "Basketball Ireland informed Fiba Europe yesterday that as a direct result of recent comments made by Israeli players and coaching staff - including inflammatory and wholly inaccurate accusations of anti-Semitism, published on official Israeli Federation channels - that our players will not be partaking in traditional pre-match arrangements with our upcoming opponents.

  • lad@programming.devEnglish
    173·
    9 months ago

    We have to show that we’re better than them and win.

    I will edit comment, because it was poor taste and inappropriate, thus the responses

    But still, this sounds at least the way Soviet sports teams were supposed to always be the best to prove a point of Soviets being best in everything. That’s not how things work, you don’t prove your point by beating someone, in sport or otherwise.

    • Custodian1623@lemmy.worldEnglish
      511·
      9 months ago

      I don’t agree with the other reply calling you an antisemite but that is still a huge stretch just to compare people to nazis. Have you never played a sport before

    • nichtsowichtig@feddit.deEnglish
      918·
      9 months ago

      Now that is a fucking stretch. If you compare Jewish people with Nazis, don’t complain when people call you an antisemite.

        • nichtsowichtig@feddit.deEnglish
          34·
          9 months ago

          yes, you are right: some israeli basketball player =/= the israeli state. sukhmel@programming.dev compared something a jewish individual said “We have to show that we’re better than them and win” to nazi ideology (“arian superiority”). Which is insane and antisemitic.

          Moreover, comparing the israeli state to Nazi Germany is antisemitic as fuck too. There is no comparison to be made. It is trivializing Nazi ideology.