In a development hailed as a win for human rights and the boycott movement, Argentina on Tuesday canceled a controversial exhibition soccer match against the Israeli national soccer team scheduled to take place in Jerusalem.
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“Congratulations to all the activists around the world who helped make this happen!” tweeted the U.S.-based group Jewish Voice for Peace.
Argentine player Gonzalo Higuaín told ESPN, “We believe that the right thing to do was not go.”
The pre-World Cup “friendly” match was scheduled for Saturday at Teddy Stadium, located in West Jerusalem. As Haaretz reports, it “was originally slated to be played in Haifa but Israeli authorities contributed funding for it to be moved to Jerusalem, irking Palestinians further following U.S. President Donald Trump’s recognition of the city as Israel’s capital.”
The South American team and its star captain Lionel Messi, in particular, had been targeted by campaigners to call off the game. A petition cited “Israel’s long record of human rights abuses, on and off the field,” and also referenced the recent Israeli sniper shooting of Palestinian soccer player Mohammed Khalil while he was peacefully protesting during the March of Great Return.
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