Avram Grant lays into Gareth Southgate over his response to Israel attacks
England manager Gareth Southgate has been slammed by Israeli football coach Avram Grant for his failure to condemn the Hamas terror attacks. Former Chelsea head coach Grant believes Southgate was not strong enough in his solidarity with the Israeli community following an unprecedented attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Last week, Southgate expressed “extreme sadness for anybody who has lost loved ones in the attacks that have happened”.
Meanwhile, the Football Association said it stood for “humanity and an end to the death, violence, fear and suffering”.
The FA defied calls to light up the Wembley arch in the blue and white colours of the Israeli flag. That move drew criticism from the Israel Football Association. Now, former national team coach Grant has taken aim at Southgate in a video message posted to his social media channels.
“Hi, I have a message to Gareth Southgate, who I respect a lot as a person and is a very good coach,” the 68-year-old said.
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“I saw your statement. You don’t have to choose sides. Also, you can choose sides to condemn what we saw in the videos – children without heads, girls that got burned alive, old women, that I can not even speak about this. You just need to be a human being.
“If my brother will do it, I would condemn this, I wouldn’t accept it. I know a lot of Palestinians, they are my friends, they even come to see football from Gaza, from West Bank, from everything. Good friends, they come to watch football.
“They say they don’t agree about this, but they don’t accept these brutal murders. They don’t, they call me. They say it’s not Islam and I agree. I know Islam very well. Islam is a wonderful religion, they love people, they’re very polite.
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“So you can stand in your point but still condemn these brutal murders of children, girls and all people. You have to do that, it’s for humanity.”
An image of a message written by Albert Einstein appeared on screen while Grant spoke. It said: “The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.”
The Premier League will this week clarify advice given to its clubs on how to pay tribute to victims of the Israel-Hamas conflict. The league wants a more unified approach, with some clubs insisting that fans should not bring to matches flags or any other accessories denoting support for either side.
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