English FA considering response to violence in Israel
Dan Roan
BBC sports editor
The UK government is encouraging sports governing bodies to mark the attacks in Israel this week with shows of support for the victims, the BBC has learned.
Officials from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport wrote to the major sports governing bodies on Wednesday asking them to show support for victims of the Hamas attacks referencing previous events and tragedies when sports have come together.
Football Association bosses held holding talks today after coming under mounting pressure to recognise victims of the violence in Israel with a show of solidarity ahead of the England friendly against Australia at Wembley on Friday.
The former FA Chairman David Bernstein - who is Jewish - told the Daily Telegraph that he was “shocked and hurt” by the governing body’s lack of response to the attacks.
On Tuesday at Uefa’s headquarters in Nyon, the FA chair Debbie Hewitt told me the FA was “certainly considering” some kind of show of support for “innocent victims” after “the horrific scenes over the weekend”.
“As we get closer to the game on Friday we will give some thought as to how best to recognise our concern,” she said.
England manager Gareth Southgate is likely to be asked about the issue when he addresses the media on Thursday.
Last year the FA lit up the Wembley arch in the blue and yellow colours of the Ukraine flag in solidarity with the country after the invasion by Russia.
However, it is understood senior officials are wary of a perception that they might be taking sides in the Middle East conflict.
Neither Uefa nor Fifa have yet issued a statement about the violence. Nor has the Premier League, which has yet to decide how it should respond, with no matches until after the international break.
They are now forcing sports to take the Israeli side.