Protest against Israel: Swiss fencers cause scandal

Until the award ceremony, everything went according to plan at the U-23 European Championship of the Fencers in Tallinn. Then there was a scandal on the podium. When the national anthem of the winning team ran from Israel, the team from Switzerland, which had occupied second place, turned demonstratively.

The gesture triggered great outrage, and Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar also reacted to this. “Shame on the Swiss team for his disrespectful behavior. They do not know how to lose and have behaved in a way that is a shame for them and the country that they are supposed to represent”; he wrote on X.

The four Swiss young fencers Ian Hauri, Théo Brochard, Jonathan Fuhrimann and Sven Vineis have now apologized for their behavior. “We would like to explain our actions and express our regret,” they wrote on the Instagram page of the association. Her actions “have no political background and had nothing to do with the disregard of Israel”.

The gesture “from our grief and our empathy with a view to the great human suffering of the civilian population, which all sides were affected in this conflict,” explained the athletes. They did not become more specific – but the fencers probably refer to the Middle East conflict. The Swiss athletes expressly apologized to their opponents from Israel and the Israeli fencing association.

The statement also came about under pressure from its own association, which had clearly commented immediately after the occurrence. The association “has no understanding that his team misused the award ceremony for a political manifestation,” it said in a message. Sports competitions are not suitable for political expressions of opinion. After discussions, they will decide on consequences. It is open whether this will exist despite the apology of the athletes.

The Israeli fencing association also complained about the campaign. “Sport should bring people together, not separate,” said a representative to the Israeli news portal Ynet.