Manchester – The coach of a Jewish youth soccer team in
England took his players off the field after claiming they had been bombarded
with “antisemitic abuse.”
Members of the
Manchester Maccabi team said they had endured anti-Jewish taunts and jibes
about Palestine in a game with the Curzon Ashton team on Sunday.
With 10 minutes left in
the game and his team losing 9-2, coach Anthony Dennison led the players off
the field after an argument between two players drew in other players, coaches
and spectators.
“We’re used to antisemitism,
we play with the Star of David on our shirts, we wear the kippah, but in the
past we’ve had managers apologize profusely and have a word with their
players,” Dennison told the Manchester Evening News.
“On this occasion
everyone was clapping and laughing at these racist insults and it was only one
or two of their boys who seemed quite embarrassed and apologized to my
players.”
The soccer league is
waiting for each team and the referee to file official reports before deciding
what, if any, action to take. The Curzon Ashton team has officially denied
the claims.
