Ghana’s Israeli flag waver provokes fury
Many soccer fans following the World Cup will have seen Ghanaian player John Pentsil celebrate his teams goals against the Czech Republic on Saturday by waving the Israeli flag (see report and picture in Haaretz). Pentsil plays for Hapoel Tel Aviv and is one of three Ghana squad members who play for Israeli soccer teams. Now we hear there is fury in Egypt at the player’s actions:
“The ignorant and stupid Paintsil, who spent 20 days in Egypt during the last African Nations Cup, plays for Hapoel,” sports commentator Alaa Sadek wrote in the daily Al-Akhbar, explaining to baffled Egyptian audiences Painstil’s link to Israel.
“Egyptians supported the Ghanaian team all the way until the 82nd minute, and regretted it after the Israeli flag (waving),” screamed a bold red headline in the independent daily Al-Masry al-Yom Monday.
Ignoring the simple fact that Paintsil plays for an Israeli club, various theories have emerged - that he is a Mossad agent, that he was paid by Israel to do it and that Israel has established training camps to poach poor African children for sale to European clubs, and that the children are forced each morning to salute the Israeli flag.
