'There's no debate about lighting Wembley arch - this isn't about taking sides'

13 October 2023 , 09:36

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There should not even be a debate about displaying the Israeli flag and colours on the Wembley arch tonight. Why? Because the Football Association should have done it days ago.

It is horribly wrong and utterly embarrassing that football has been so slow to react to one of the worst slaughters since the Holocaust. Football, not just the FA, should hang its head in shame. Wembley turned the arch red for Turkey, blue and yellow for Ukraine and every colour of the rainbow for the One Love armband. Not just that. But they couldn’t do it quickly enough. And that’s the point.

The FA have been so worried about not taking sides, taking so long wrestling with what is admittedly a huge dilemma, they now find themselves potentially leaving the arch dark as some sort of limp and spineless tribute to the innocents who have lost their lives in the Middle East.

If they had marked what happened last Saturday in Israel within the next day or so, we wouldn’t be having this discussion now. That’s their mistake. They missed it.

Let’s be absolutely clear here: this is not about taking sides. This is about the slaughter of innocents carried out by a terrorist group, Hamas, who murdered innocent people at a music festival, killed babies and children while taking hundreds of hostages. In what world do people think that should not be marked? No wonder Lord Mann, the Government’s adviser on UK antisemitism, says: “Jews don’t count.”

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'There's no debate about lighting Wembley arch - this isn't about taking sides'

The arch has been lit up to support a variety of causes in the past (Daily Express)

It should have been done days ago. I’m not supporting Israel’s attack on innocents on Gaza. Quite the contrary. By now, we should be talking about a peace gesture at Wembley to honour the dead from both sides. That’s the point. It is utterly heartbreaking to see the senseless killing on both sides.

In my view, there should be a peace message on the Wembley arch tonight. It’s too late for taking sides now. This has escalated out of control. But no wonder Israel and Jewish leaders feel so let down by football. They showed the Israeli flag above the door at 10 Downing Street. What is wrong with showing support at Wembley?

The Israeli flag was projected onto 10 Downing Street (AP)

This is a tragedy beyond all comparison. And football clearly does not have an idea how to tackle it.

The FA is absolutely right to do something before the Australia game. A period of silence. Black armbands. People banned from bringing scarves, shirts and flags from any other country into the stadium. Good luck searching 90,000-plus bags.

The Premier League and EFL are following suit. But it’s the arch which has caused the outrage. Good on Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer for speaking out and calling it “extremely disappointing.”

The FA took no disciplinary action against two Leicester players Hamza Choudhury and Wesley Fofana when they celebrated the FA Cup win two years ago by holding up a Palestine flag at Wembley at a time of heightened tensions.

Hamza Choudhury and Wesley Fofana with the Palestinian flag at Wembley

That struck me as odd bearing in mind Pep Guardiola was fined £20,000 and banned from wearing his yellow ribbon in support of a yellow ribbon in support of jailed Catalan independence leaders five years ago. Guardiola accused the FA of “double standards” as they allowed other campaigns to be highly visible.

BBC News apologises as it brings reports from the Middle East. It has actually done features on how difficult it is to report from there. Not because of safety fears. But for fear of saying the wrong thing. I’m sure it’s a lot harder for the families from both sides who have lost loved ones.

The problem is that you cannot pick and choose. You have to be consistent. Wembley has been so quick to react in the past to tragedies. Why the delay in this one? The delay is what has caused the issue.

Where are all the campaign groups now? Where are all the voices that normally offer support? Where was the FA statement? Where was the Premier League? What did Kick It Out say? Absolutely nothing.