Football Match in Bilbao Sends Message of Solidarity with Palestine
Like dozens of national football teams, Spain will be hoping to secure its place at the 2026 World Cup in the current international window. But, for more than 50,000 fans in the San Mames stadium in the northern city of Bilbao on Saturday, the focus of attention was squarely on two teams who won’t be there: the Palestine and Basque Country national football teams.
The streets of Bilbao where packed with Palestinian flags, with supporters of both clubs united by a shared cause. Money raised from the match went to Doctors Without Borders, and the entertainment before the players crossed the white line comprised a mix of the two cultures.
“When Palestine was eliminated from the World Cup qualifiers we saw an opportunity to show solidarity with them,” Mikel De Gregorio, the sporting director of the Basque Football Federation, told DW. As everyone DW spoke with on the day did, he mentioned the genocide in Gaza, as persistent by a UN commission of inquiry in September, the findings of which were rejected by Israel. Current estimates put the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza in over two years of Israeli attacks at approaching 70,000. The strikes were preceded by the Hamas-led incursion into Israel on October 7, 2023 which killed nearly 1,200 people.
Message of solidarity
“Palestine is living through a genocide, thay are being massacred in Gaza, and history will ask us what we were doing at that moment to try to stop it,” De Gregorio said.
“And from the world of sports, from football, what we are trying to do is help economically and give visibility worldwide to this match and this situation,” he said. “what we want is to send that solidarity to the palestinian people, so everyone can see it.”
This was certainly the case on Saturday. Palestine lost the match 3-0 but that was not front of mind for most in attendance,whether on the pitch or in the stands.
“This is amazing. I really didn’t expect so many people on the streets and the crowd. I didn’t expect this support but it was amazing,” said right back Emilio Saba, who recently switched international footballing allegiance to Palestine from Peru.
“It showed that we are together,” Saba said, “not only palestinian people, you no, the whole world.”
Saba, like nearly all of the remaining Palestinian team, is based abroad. As the war began after the 2023 Hamas-led incursion, there has been no league, no functioning clubs, and hundreds of athletes have
Basque Country and Catalonia Offer Palestine Football Team a Platform Amidst La Liga Restrictions
The Palestinian national football team is finding support and a sense of solidarity in the autonomous regions of the Basque Country and catalonia in Spain, offering a stark contrast to restrictions imposed by some La liga clubs. These regions, with strong cultural identities and histories of seeking self-determination, have openly demonstrated support for Palestine, even as some Spanish football institutions attempt to suppress displays of solidarity.
On Saturday, Palestine played a kind match against the Basque Country, a non-FIFA affiliated team, in Bilbao. The Basque Country’s coach, Iñaki Aduriz, explained the decision to host the team was rooted in a shared understanding of the desire for recognition and self-determination.”We are a culture with our own language, our own identity, our own traditions, and sometimes it’s challenging to explain to the rest of the world that we want our place in the world. So from that point of view, I think we see some similarities with the]situation of Palestine,” he stated, as reported by[DeutscheWelle[DeutscheWelle.
This backing mirrors the support shown by several Basque clubs. Real Sociedad, Eibar, Alaves, and Osasuna have all displayed support for Palestine within their stadiums. Athletic Bilbao has been particularly vocal, unfurling banners in support during a champions League match and inviting Palestinian refugees onto the pitch in October, accompanied by the message: “Athletic palestinaren alde. Stop genozidioa,” which translates to “Athletic stands with Palestine. Stop the genocide.”
Though, these displays haven’t been without controversy. Broadcasters reportedly blocked coverage of the scenes at Athletic Bilbao’s La Liga match, prompting Spanish international goalkeeper Unai Simon to express his disappointment, stating, “It was very beautiful and emotional. It really saddens me that it wasn’t shown on TV.”
The situation isn’t uniform across Spanish football.While Athletic Bilbao and other Basque clubs demonstrate support, Real Madrid has banned Palestinian flags from its matches. Despite this, Spain officially recognized the State of Palestine in May 2024, according to Reuters. Further illustrating the sensitivity surrounding the issue, the final stage of the Vuelta a España cycling race in Madrid was disrupted by pro-palestinian protests in September, as reported by Euronews.
Following the match in the Basque Country, the Palestinian team traveled to Catalonia to face the Catalan national side, another region with a strong footballing tradition and a distinct cultural identity. While these teams won’t be participating in the North American hosted tournaments in June, they are effectively using football as a platform to raise awareness and demonstrate solidarity.
Miguel cano in Bilbao contributed to this report.
Edited by: Chuck Penfold
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