Politicians from major parties in the Polish parliament are outraged by the conduct of Israeli supporters during the match in Debrecen, calling for UEFA to act and banning the fans from the Schengen area.
Scandal at the Match and Reactions
The match between Raków Częstochowa and Maccabi Haifa in Hungarian Debrecen saw Israeli fans display banners reading “Killers since 1939” in English and desecrate the Polish flag. The incident shocked Polish politicians. “Shame during the Raków match! Every one of these pitiful provocateurs should be banned from entering Poland, and the club must be expelled from UEFA competitions,” said former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. “UEFA should respond to the scandalous banner,” wrote MP from Poland 2050, Sławomir Ćwik. “But UEFA should have already excluded Israel and its clubs from competitions due to the genocide in the Gaza Strip,” added him. “Enemies everywhere—we must impose a Schengen entry ban,” commented Roman Giertych.
President: Absurdity Beyond Words
“Killers of 60,000 people, including 18,000 children, since 2023. Raków fans are right. Israel is murdering, and the world is silent. No false Jewish banners will cover this,” said Sławomir Mentzen. “Those who hung the banner at the Maccabi‑Raków match desecrated the memory of all victims of German aggression during World War II,” wrote PiS club head Mariusz Błaszczak. He called for a decisive response from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His post mistakenly said the match was in Haifa; it was actually in Debrecen. President Karol Nawrocki earlier condemned the incident as “nonsense beyond words.” Vice‑Prime Minister Władysław Kosiniak‑Kamysz urged “unambiguous action from UEFA” to oppose historical lies against the nation.
Embassy Reaction and Sikorski
Israel’s embassy in Poland called the behaviour of some Maccabi Haifa fans “abhorrent.” “Such words and actions have no place on the field or anywhere else,” the embassy posted on X. Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski thanked the embassy for its response, then removed “thank you” from his X comment. He emphasized teaching Israeli youth the historical facts of 1939. The Vice‑Prime Minister subsequently removed the word “thank you” from his comment on X.