The Argentinian football team has called off their proposed friendly match with Israel. This act comes as a result of thousands of fans protesting Israel’s crimes against Palestine through various campaigns.
Palestinian activists had appealed to Messi to not partake in what they believe to be a “political act” and the Argentinian captain responded to their request. On top of that Catalan protesters also pleaded to the UNICEF’s Goodwill Ambassador to not help Israel launder their image and switch focus from the atrocities being committed to Palestinians in Gaza.
Although Israeli officials quickly shifted the blame to Messi and his team mates receiving “death threats” being the cause of the match being cancelled, their claim had no supporting evidence. This was purely the result of successful positive boycotting and Messi’s teammate Gonazalo Higuain stated that, “In the end, they’ve done right thing, and this is behind us. Health and common sense come first. We felt that it wasn’t right to go.”
This just shows that football indeed possesses the power to open peoples’ eyes.