SARAJEVO (Reuters) -The police in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo barred fans from attending a EuroLeague match between Dubai and Hapoel Tel Aviv for security reasons following a protest against the match on Wednesday.
The match is scheduled to take place on Thursday evening in Sarajevo but a group of citizens have repeatedly called on the local government to cancel it, protesting against what they called a “genocide in Gaza”.
During the protests on Wednesday, some from the group tried to forcibly enter the government building and break into an ongoing session but were prevented by special police forces.
The protesters complain that Hapoel have not distanced themselves from Israeli alleged atrocities against civilians in Gaza and that Sarajevo, the city which was besieged by Serb forces for 43 months during the Bosnian 1992-95 war, should not host the Israeli club.
Bosnians are sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, with fresh memories of their own war in the 1990s and the genocide of Bosnian Muslims in the U.N.-protected enclave of Srebrenica.
A U.N. inquiry determined that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. Israel rejects genocide allegations as politically motivated and says its military campaign targets Hamas, not Gaza’s civilian population. It says it takes steps to minimise civilian harm.
“Based on collected operational information, the Sarajevo Interior Ministry’s Police Administration has informed organisers of the match … that attendance of fans will not be allowed for security reasons,” the police said in a statement.
It added that high security measures will be taken from Thursday morning in the vicinity of the sports arena to ensure that the match is not interrupted.
The Dubai and Hapoel clubs, as well as EuroLeague, were not immediately available to comment.
(Reporting by Daria Sito-SucicEditing by Christian Radnedge)
