Stay up to date with notifications from TheĀ Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

English Football Association to honor the Israeli and Palestinian victims at Wembley Stadium

The English Football Association says it will pay tribute to the Israeli and Palestinian victims of the war in the Middle East when England hosts Australia in a friendly match at Wembley Stadium

Via AP news wire
Thursday 12 October 2023 09:17 EDT
UEFA Euros Hosts
UEFA Euros Hosts (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The English Football Association will pay tribute to the Israeli and Palestinian victims of the war in the Middle East when England hosts Australia in a friendly match at Wembley Stadium on Friday.

Plans, however, do not include lighting up the national stadium's iconic arch in the colors of Israel's flag, despite increasing calls to do so, the FA said Thursday.

The England and Australia teams will wear black armbands and observe a moment of silence before kick off.

ā€œWe stand for humanity and an end to the death, violence, fear and suffering,ā€ the FA said.

The soccer body also said it would only permit ā€œflags, replica kits and other representations of nationalityā€ for the nations competing on Friday. The same rules will apply when England hosts Italy in a European Championship qualifier on Tuesday.

Wembley's arch has been lit up in the past in the colors of Ukraine's flag after it was invaded by Russia and in the colors of Brazil when soccer great Pele died.

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in