Pro-Palestine protesters chant ‘Heil Hitler’ during Israel-Paraguay football match at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games

As Israel played Paraguay in the 2024 Paris Olympics football match, pro-Palestine protesters marked their presence in the stadium and chanted “Heil Hitler” as the former’s anthem was played. A video of the event surfaced on social media, showing the protesters shouting “Heil Hitler” while also giving the Nazi salute.

With the war between Israel and Hamas starting in the first week of October, athletes who are among the former have been provided with heavy security to ensure their safety. According to Sky News, stakeholders or Olympic organizers have requested an investigation into the anti-Semitic protesters.

The country mobilized as many as 35,000 police officers for each day of the Olympic Games, and 45,000 were present at the opening ceremony.

“Paris 2024 strongly condemns these acts” – Olympic organizers

The Olympic organisers issued the following statement, quoted by Sky News:

“Paris 2024 strongly condemns these acts. A complaint has been filed by Paris 2024, which is at the disposal of the authorities to assist in the investigation.”

As for the match status of the two countries, Israel lost 4-2. Omri Gandelman and Oscar Gloukh scored the two goals for Israel. Marcelo Fernandez, Omri Gandelman, Julio Encisio scored for Paraguay. Fernandez scored a couple, surprisingly.

Published: Tuesday, July 30, 2024, 10:20 AM IST