Agencies-Gaza post
Paris Saint-Germain footballer Hakimi booed for Palestine support during Israel match
While playing for his team Paris Saint-Germain in Tel Aviv on Sunday, Moroccan footballer Achraf Hakimi was treated to a barrage of insults from Israeli football supporters.
The Trophee des Champions game, which was played in Tel Aviv’s Bloomfield Stadium and won by 4 goals to zero, featured the 23-year-old Moroccan international, who was just shortlisted for African Player of the Year. He was playing for the French team against Nantes.
Videos were posted online to demonstrate that many football fans cheered and whistled at the full-back anytime he had the ball in his hands.
Online supporters and activists said that Hakimi’s treatment by the crowd was caused by his public support for the Palestinian cause.
Hakimi tweeted his support for Palestine using the hashtag #FreePalestine during Israel’s heaviest shelling of the besieged Gaza Strip and the forcible eviction of inhabitants of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in occupied east Jerusalem in May of last year.
When Hakimi participated in the same competition in Tel Aviv in August of last year with the Parisian squad, he experienced the same harassment.
However, Hakimi was backed by both activists and supporters. Franco-Moroccan sports journalist Said El Abadi criticized the hostile whistling of the crowd as “scandalous,” but others praised him for bearing it and sticking up for the Palestinian cause.
Additionally, according to sports news sources, Hakimi was protected by a bodyguard when he was in Tel Aviv for his own security.
Hakimi, who has represented France since 2021, is regarded as one of the top players for the Moroccan national team and the most expensive player in Africa.
