THE Israel vs Scotland game at Hampden Park has been delayed after a protester got into the stadium and chained themselves to a goalpost.
Police operating as part of a protest removal team have been called in to deal with the activist, who photographs showed was wearing a top reading "Red card for Israel".
At Hampden Park for @SkySportsNews as the Scotland Women’s National team prepare to face Israel… kick off delayed as a protestor has chained themselves to the goalpost. pic.twitter.com/lbuluHC9j3
— Mark Benstead (@markbenstead) May 31, 2024
The news came as hundreds of people were demonstrating outside the national stadium in Glasgow calling for the Euro 2025 qualifier match to be called off over Israel’s actions in Palestine.
Protesters played the Palestinian national anthem at 7pm in an effort to drown out the Israeli national anthem being played inside.
The women’s international is being played behind closed doors due to the threat of disruption.
Campaigners and charities including Show Israel the Red Card and Scottish Friends of Palestine held the protest outside the stadium on Friday calling for an immediate ceasefire.
They also hit out at the SFA’s decision to allow the game to go ahead, describing it as an attempt to “sportwash” Israel.
Demonstrators held small replica coffins and spread a banner which read “Ceasefire Now” on the ground outside Hampden.
The match had been scheduled to kick off at 7.05pm on Friday evening.
Protesters were gathering outside the venue two hours before kick-off, with officials seen trying to get them to turn off their PA system.
By 6pm, the protest's official start time, a crowd of hundreds had gathered.
Police moved in on the activists at around 6:20pm.
The crowds were told that the match had been delayed at around 7pm, with news that it was due to someone chained to a goalpost filtering out more slowly.
Around 30 minutes after the protester chained themselves to a goalpost, police removed the activist from the pitch and the players returned.
Kick off took place slightly before 7:40pm, just over 35 minutes later than originally scheduled.
The SFA said previously: “Due to updated intelligence and following extensive security consultations with all key parties, the Scottish FA regrets to confirm that the forthcoming qualifier between Scotland and Israel at Hampden Park on May 31 will now be played behind closed doors.
“The stadium operations team were alerted to the potential for planned disruptions to the match and as a consequence we have no option but to play the match without supporters in attendance.”
Chief Superintendent Stevie Dolan said: “A proportionate policing response was deployed at Hampden during the evening of Friday, 31 May and we worked with event organisers to ensure the safety of everyone in attendance and those in the surrounding area.
“A 24-year-old man has been arrested and charged following an incident on the pitch prior to kick-off and will be subject of a report to the Procurator Fiscal.”
The protests came as US President Joe Biden detailed a three-phase deal proposed by Israel to Hamas that he said would lead to the release of remaining hostages in Gaza and could end the assault on the region.
Biden said Hamas is “no longer capable” of carrying out another large-scale attack on Israel, as he urged Israelis and Hamas to come to a deal to release remaining hostages for an extended ceasefire.
The US president said the first phase of the proposed deal would last for six weeks and would include a “full and complete ceasefire”, a withdrawal of Israeli forces from all populated areas of Gaza and the release of a number of hostages, including women, the elderly and the wounded, in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
Israel launched its military operations in Gaza after Hamas’s October 7 attack in which militants stormed into southern Israel, killed some 1200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted about 250.
In response, Israel launched an offensive which has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians, displaced more than one million, and seen Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused of perpetrating war crimes.
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