Victims Of London Without Tribute Of The Saudi Team

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

The image has gone around the world and has generated intense controversy on the networks.

At the start of a soccer match in Adelaide, Australia, between the local team and that of Saudi Arabia in the qualifying rounds for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, a minute of silence was observed for the victims of the recent terrorist attack in London, in which they died Australian citizens.

So far all rules, since minutes of silence are very often kept before starting a football game. The strange thing is that only one of the teams, the Australians, followed him, standing in the center of the field. The Saudis, with the exception of one player, kept warming up as if nothing was wrong.

The attitude of these opponents caused boos from the public present.

According to the Spanish newspaper El País, the Australian Football Federation has explained that they had agreed with the Asian Confederation and those responsible for the Saudi national team to celebrate the minute of silence. Later, the spokespeople of the visiting team informed them that they would not join the grief because it is a practice foreign to their culture.

As expected, the action of the Saudis generated an avalanche of criticism for what was considered a lack of respect towards the victims of the attack perpetrated by suspected supporters of the Islamic State terrorist group.

Consequently, the Saudi sports authorities issued a statement apologizing "without reservation for any offense caused."

"The players had no intention of disrespecting the memory of the victims or upsetting families, friends or any individual affected by this atrocity," stresses the text, which condemns without palliation "all acts of terrorism"