England women’s football final cancelled over support for Palestine.
The FA Women’s Cup final between Clapton Community and Dulwich Hamlet Reserve, which was due to be played at Maidstone United’s Gallagher Stadium on Sunday, was abandoned after just 20 minutes due to fans’ support for the Palestinian people. The move by the organisers was met with even greater solidarity from the crowd in support of the Palestinian people.
Clapton, who were leading 2-0, announced that a representative of the home team had gone to their fans and asked them to take down the Palestinian flag. At the same time, Dulwich fans were also asked to remove a banner reading “Show the Red Card to Genocide”.
Demonstrations condemning the Zionist regime in cities around the world
Fans opposed the match, and match officials stopped the match. According to the Clapton club, the league offered two options: to continue the match without spectators or to cancel the match altogether, but the Clapton players decided to leave the match halfway in protest.
Clapton’s club stressed in a statement: “The 32 female players were banned from the final simply because the fans refused to put down the Palestinian flag and protest banner. We stand with the Palestinian people who are being bombed every day.”
After the game was canceled, fans from both teams showed their support for the oppressed Palestinian people by chanting slogans and displaying various flags and banners. Clapton’s statement continued: “Showing sympathy for the Palestinian people is not a reason to cancel a sporting event.”
Dulwich Hamlet chairman Ben Clasper also expressed regret over the incident, saying: “There is no evidence that our fans behaved inappropriately. The banners and flags did not break any laws or regulations.”
The Clapton Club, which is entirely grassroots, has been running since 2018 and in 2021 officially announced its support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which calls for freedom, justice and the restoration of rights for the Palestinian people.
Dulwich fans also said in a statement, referring to the historical background of sport and its role in confronting oppression: “Whether it was apartheid South Africa or Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine, sport has always been a place to stand up against human rights violations. Those who say politics should not enter sport either do not know history or are running away from it.”
The incident occurred at a time when support for the Palestinian people is growing worldwide, especially among sports activists, and silence against the crimes of the Zionist regime is less tolerated than in the past.