Israeli team cross after match forfeit enforced
AN ISRAELI lacrosse team playing in the sport’s World Championship in Scotland was forced to forfeit a match after refusing to play on Shabbat.
The under-19s side, made up of 15 and 16-year-old amateurs participating in their first tournament, arranged with opponents Finland to play their match on Wednesday last week instead of last Saturday.
They lost 8-0 to the Finnish side, but tournament organisers ruled the game invalid and awarded Finland a 12-0 walkover. Israel are appealing the decision.
In April, days after the schedule for the Edinburgh-based competition was released, Israel Lacrosse founder Scott Neiss wrote to the Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) asking for the game to be moved and offering to pay any associated costs.
FIL denied the request, stating the need for a “common rest day” and reminding Israel that “no member country has the authority to request any notation to the schedule”.
An Israel Lacrosse spokesman said: “We’re saddened by their inability to accommodate what we feel is a reasonable request. Hopefully good sense will prevail.”
Israel lost their other matches at their debut tournament 3-2 to South Korea, 19-0 to New Zealand, and 18-0 to the United States.
A Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign plan to protest at every Israel match was thwarted after police stopped around a dozen demonstrators from entering the tournament venue.
Nigel Goodrich, who co-ordinates Friends of Israel groups in Scotland, said: “Everything passed off without any incident. The police did their job spectacularly well. They were studiously neutral, dispassionate and very professional.”