Sweden: Israeli taekwondo team stays home after terror threats
Update:
Though mentioned in the article, please note that this story is from last week. The Trelleborg Open was on Feb. 14-15.
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The city of Malmö decided yesterday that due to security reasons, no fans will be allowed in the Sweden-Israel Davis Cup match. The decision caused an uproar. Maybe taekwondo is just not as popular as tennis, but this story barely caught any attention.
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An Israeli taekwondo delegation, consisting of 45 athletes and 5 coaches, was supposed to travel last weekend to Trelleborg for the Swedish championship (Trelleborg Open). However, the trip was canceled due to threats by a Muslim organization.
The Swedish Federation warned the Israeli delegation that they had concrete threats of an attack on the Israelis during the competition. They asked the Israeli delegation to cancel the trip due to security problems and the flight was indeed canceled.
A senior Swedish taekwondo official told his colleagues in Israel: "Ten thousand members of a Muslim organization are threatening to settle the account with you because of the war in Gaza." The threat was received by email from somebody claiming to represent a pro-Palestinian organization.
The chairman of the Israeli taekwondo federation, Michel Madar, confirmed the report and told ONE: "We're trying to act through the international taekwondo associations so that such things won't happen again. In any case, we're treating this whole story very seriously." Madar even involved the Israeli foreign and sports ministries and the International Olympic Committee.
The Junior European Championship will take place in the same hall in Trelleborg in May, and the Israeli taekwondo federation hopes that the young athletes will be able to participate even if there are additional threats.
Source: NRG, ONE (Hebrew)
Update:
Though mentioned in the article, please note that this story is from last week. The Trelleborg Open was on Feb. 14-15.
------------
The city of Malmö decided yesterday that due to security reasons, no fans will be allowed in the Sweden-Israel Davis Cup match. The decision caused an uproar. Maybe taekwondo is just not as popular as tennis, but this story barely caught any attention.
------------
An Israeli taekwondo delegation, consisting of 45 athletes and 5 coaches, was supposed to travel last weekend to Trelleborg for the Swedish championship (Trelleborg Open). However, the trip was canceled due to threats by a Muslim organization.
The Swedish Federation warned the Israeli delegation that they had concrete threats of an attack on the Israelis during the competition. They asked the Israeli delegation to cancel the trip due to security problems and the flight was indeed canceled.
A senior Swedish taekwondo official told his colleagues in Israel: "Ten thousand members of a Muslim organization are threatening to settle the account with you because of the war in Gaza." The threat was received by email from somebody claiming to represent a pro-Palestinian organization.
The chairman of the Israeli taekwondo federation, Michel Madar, confirmed the report and told ONE: "We're trying to act through the international taekwondo associations so that such things won't happen again. In any case, we're treating this whole story very seriously." Madar even involved the Israeli foreign and sports ministries and the International Olympic Committee.
The Junior European Championship will take place in the same hall in Trelleborg in May, and the Israeli taekwondo federation hopes that the young athletes will be able to participate even if there are additional threats.
Source: NRG, ONE (Hebrew)
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