Some more light has been shed on the now famous Ghana-Israeli flag waving incident from a few days ago. John Paintsil, the player involved, has explained why he did it:
“I love the supporters in Israel so I decided to take out the flag,” Paintsil said.“I have played for Hapoel and Maccabi Tel Aviv and the supporters there always made me happy so I wanted to repay them.”
Ok, so perhaps not an expression of solidarity with Israel, but certainly a sign of his fondness for Israeli fans. Or could it have been self-preservation?
Israeli soccer pundits said Hapoel were looking to axe Paintsil from their line-up for next season but the club might now want to reconsider.
Whatever the real reason, what is certain is that the Ghanan team have a heck of a lot more Israeli fans now.
Meanwhile, FIFA have stated that they are ok with Paintsil’s actions.
Fifa spokesman Markus Siegler said the game’s governing had no problem with Pantsil’s action.“Its like the mask incident last week when Ivan Kaviedes scored for Ecuador against Costa Rica and pulled a mask over his face to celebrate. Let’s not get too petty about this. I think it’s fine.”
Yeah, far be it for FIFA to get petty.
