2024 Olympic Games | Israel’s opening football match is first test of safety at the Paris Games

‘Pleasant ambience’

The Israel-Mali match also provides an initial insight into how other participants and the general public are reacting to Israel’s participation in the Games.

The 2024 Paris Games will take place five decades after Palestinian militants killed 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich.

At the training center in Croissy, about 20 kilometers west of Paris, the Israeli players appeared relaxed on Tuesday, but there was still some tension in the air.

Media minders shouted “only football” when reporters tried to ask questions about the political background. When asked about security, three of the players reiterated that they felt comfortable, prepared and were just happy to be in Paris.

“We came here to win and achieve things with this team and we are very excited,” Omri Gandelman, a midfielder who plays for Belgian side Gent, told reporters. “We have a job to do.”

The team’s coach, who oversaw the soccer team’s first Olympic qualification since 1976, said he was not worried about the atmosphere on match night.

“It will be a great atmosphere and I’m sure we will have a lot of supporters,” said Guy Luzon. “We don’t care what happens around us.”

As a former French colony, there is a large Malian diaspora in France and regardless of whether there is hostility towards Israel or not, they are likely to turn out in droves, as they did earlier this week at a pre-tournament friendly on the outskirts of Paris.

Before the military campaign in Gaza, Israel had sought closer ties in Africa. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met senior Malian officials in 2019 in hopes of normalizing relations.

Mali, a predominantly Muslim state, severed ties with Israel in 1973 after the Yom Kippur War. The Malian government, which came to power in a coup in 2021, has repeatedly expressed support for the Palestinians and condemned Israel’s actions in Gaza.

Mali has its own concerns on the pitch, with several key players withdrawing from the Olympics after denouncing the maladministration of the Malian Football Federation.