A spokesman for the Israeli embassy in Warsaw said it was "shocked and saddened by the news of another anti-Semitic incident.”
The Simon Wiesenthal Center, one of the world's largest Jewish rights organisations, on Thursday called for disciplinary measures against Legia Warsaw after what it termed a “violent attack” on members of Israel’s Hapoel Petah Tikva team on Wednesday.
UEFA action urged
The centre’s director for international relations, Shimon Samuels, has written a letter to the head of European soccer's governing body UEFA, Aleksander Ceferin, in which he denounced the “violent attack by masked men on members of the Hapoel Petah Tikva soccer team” following an exhibition game against MKS Ciechanów in Sochocin, some 70 kilometres from Warsaw.
He also said that “reportedly, most of the team had left the field for their hotel, when hooligans identified as Legia Warsaw fans invaded the pitch to beat up the few members left behind ... Despite a police presence, two of the Israelis were injured.”
Samuels also wrote: “Anti-Semitism is hardly new in Poland, but this brutal attack must have consequences.”
The Simon Wiesenthal Center urged Ceferin “to take Legia Warsaw to the UEFA disciplinary committee so that they adopt appropriate measures against those identified as their delinquent fans for racist behaviour at any soccer game, as also for the rapid arrest and prosecution by the Polish authorities of those perpetrators.”
"A red card must be flagged to all such manifestations of hatred and violence that abuse the beautiful game,” Samuels added.
Legia Warsaw slams 'unfounded reports'
However, Legia Warsaw, in a statement issued on Thursday, said it would ask Hapoel Petah Tikva for "appropriate clarifications and corrections."
The Warsaw club also said that "after studying the facts” and talking to representatives of the Ciechanów club, it “sees no grounds or evidence to suggest that those taking part in the incident were indeed Legia fans."
It added that Legia Warsaw fans were at the time of the Sochocin match on Wednesday evening busy supporting their own club in a return game against FC Astana.
Legia also said that “media running unfounded reports about the alleged involvement of Legia supporters in the incident - despite no confirmation in the available facts – are exposing the club to serious damage to its reputation.”
According to Poland’s PAP news agency, the incident is being investigated by a district prosecutor's office.
The Reuters news agency quoted Michał Sobelman, a spokesman for the Israeli embassy in Warsaw, as saying that the embassy “has been shocked and saddened by the news of another anti-Semitic incident.”
The agency also quoted Polish government spokesman Rafał Bochenek as offering assurances that police were investigating the incident and would detain those responsible.
(str/pk)
Source: PAP, TVP Info, Simon Wiesenthal Center, Reuters