Palestinian Olympic body urges IOC to ban Israeli athletes from Paris Games

The Palestine Olympic Committee has urged Olympics authorities to ban Israeli athletes (seen here at the Tokyo Games opening ceremony) from taking part in the upcoming Paris Games. (Reuters/File Photo)
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Updated 28 July 2024
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Palestinian Olympic body urges IOC to ban Israeli athletes from Paris Games

  • Officials claim judo competitor signed a missile while visiting Israel Defense Forces soldiers 

LONDON: The Palestine Olympic Committee has urged Olympics authorities to ban Israeli athletes from taking part in the upcoming Paris Games.

According to a report in The Telegraph, POC officials on Friday presented evidence to the IOC allegedly showing Israeli Olympians visiting Israel Defense Forces soldiers and one, a judo athlete, even signing a missile.

Nader Jayousi, deputy secretary-general of the POC, said lsrael was solely responsible “for the human rights violations happening in Gaza, and the killings and murders of every single person.”

Jayousi added that if found to have signed missiles being fired at Palestinian civilians in Gaza, athletes will not have behaved in the “Olympic spirit.”

The Israel Judo Association issued a statement saying its athlete did not sign a missile himself.

Calls to ban Israeli athletes from the Paris Games have increased since the IDF retaliation in Gaza for an attack by Hamas militants on Oct. 7 in which around 1,200 people were killed.

Since October, Israeli forces have killed more than 38,900 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the territory’s Health Ministry.

In February, French lawmakers asked the IOC to sanction Israeli athletes, while a second online petition to the same effect garnered over 640,000 signatures.

Protesters have demonstrated outside the IOC headquarters in Switzerland, and Palestinian officials have also called for the Israeli FA to be banned from FIFA.

It is unlikely that the IOC will ban Israeli athletes from the Games, which get underway next week, the Telegraph reported.


South Africa do not fear Salah or Marmoush, coach Broos says

Updated 25 December 2025
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South Africa do not fear Salah or Marmoush, coach Broos says

  • South Africa’s Belgian coach said he will not use a special approach to contain Salah or Marmoush
  • “We are focused on no one. The most important thing is ⁠the team,” Bross said

RABAT: Coach Hugo Broos said South Africa do not fear Egypt’s Premier League contingent, Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush, ahead of their Group B clash in the Africa Cup of Nations on Friday.
Manchester City forward Marmoush scored the equalizer against Zimbabwe, before a late strike from Liverpool’s Salah secured a 2-1 win in their opening game in Morocco on Monday.
South Africa beat Angola by the ⁠same score in their Group B opener thanks to Lyle Foster’s screamer.
South Africa’s Belgian coach said he will not use a special approach to contain Salah or Marmoush.
“We are focused on no one. The most important thing is ⁠the team,” Bross, who led Cameroon to the 2017 edition title over Egypt, told a press conference on Thursday.
“We all know how good Salah is, we all know how good Marmoush is and we all know how good Trezeguet is and other players. They are such a good team. Why should we focus on one player? We ⁠have to be prepared to beat the team.”
The last meeting between the two sides in AFCON ended in South Africa’s favor, after they beat the hosts of the 2019 edition 1-0 in the Round of 16.
“We have to put Egypt in difficult (situations) and you can only do that when you use your quality and the players you normally use,” added Broos.