EL game at Maccabi Haifa
Two Villarreal professionals boycott a minute’s silence for Israel
November 10, 2023, 6:41 p.m
A minute’s silence will be held in memory of the victims of the Hamas attack on October 7th before the Europa League game between Maccabi Haifa and Villarreal FC. But two footballers from the top Spanish club are missing.
Theoretically, it was a home game when Maccabi Haifa hosted Villarreal FC on the fourth group matchday of the Europa League. In practice, however, the game between the Israeli football champions and last year’s fifth-placed Spanish team took place in Cyprus, in the port city of Larnaka. The security concerns are too great due to the war that Israel has been waging since October 7th as a result of the brutal attack by the radical Islamic terrorist organization Hamas. Haifa’s 2-1 defeat in front of empty stands was pushed into the background due to the events shortly before kick-off.
Two FC Villarreal professionals refused to observe the minute’s silence in memory of the more than 1,400 people who died in the Hamas attack. Aissa Mandi, French-born, 73-time Algeria international, and Ilias Akhomach, Spanish U21 international, who played for Morocco in the U15 and won the North African championship with the local team. The duo was missing when the teams lined up in the center circle. Eleven Maccabi footballers faced only nine Villarreal footballers. Mandi and Akhomach entered the lawn only afterwards.
The Israeli sports site “Sport5” reported that a representative from Haifa was outraged by this behavior. This is “subterranean and unacceptable. Everyone saw the true face of these players today.” According to the “Bild” newspaper, the official game observer is said to have included the refusal in his game report, so a subsequent punishment is at least conceivable. However, nothing is known about an investigation against the two footballers.
The “Express” in turn reported that Villarreal had previously made it clear to Maccabi Haifa and UEFA that the minute’s silence should apply to all victims of the war in Israel, including the Palestinians. “Football Espana” wrote that 32-year-old Mandi and 19-year-old Akhomach had boycotted the action because their request had been rejected.