Football fan confronted by security after bringing Israel flag into England's win over Australia
A football fan holds up the Israel flag during England's win over Australia at Wembley on Friday night
REUTERS
A football fan was confronted by Wembley security on Friday night after holding up an Israel flag.
England beat Australia 1-0 during the match in London, with Aston Villa forward Ollie Watkins scoring the only goal of the game.
Before the fixture, a period of silence was held.
Football chiefs bottled the decision to illuminate the Wembley arch in the colours of the Israeli flag due to fears of a backlash.
WATCH NOW: Biden pledges to stand with Israel
A message on a big screen read: "Tonight we remember the innocent victims of the devastating events in Israel and Palestine.
"Our thoughts are with them, and their families and friends in England and Australia and with all the communities who are affected by this ongoing conflict.
"Tonight we stand for humanity and an end to the death, violence, fear and suffering."
Before the game, it was made clear no Israel or Palestine flags would be permitted inside the ground.
But one fan was able to smuggle it in and held it up high during the contest.
An image from Reuters shows security confronting the supporter, with other fans looking round.
It is unclear whether the man, as well as the flag, was removed from the premises.
Israel was attacked by Hamas terrorists last Saturday, with war raging on in the Middle East in the time since.
Israel promised retaliation and have since bombarded Gaza with airstrikes of their own.
Meanwhile, GB News presenter Nigel Farage blasted the FA's decision not to light up Wembley for Israel - insisting it's a show of 'pure cowardice'.
He said on social media: "So our Football Association loves to present their manners, their pride, doing the right thing all the time.
"So the arch at Wembley it puts up the French flag when France is under attack, the Turkish attack when they are under attack, the Ukraine flag when they were under attack and, of course, when the World Cup was going on in Qatar, the LGBTQ+ flag went up.
"Because we're good people, we're nice people, we're great people.
"Until it comes to the jews. And then no one cares because they refuse to put up the Israel flag, despite what Hamas has done there over the course of the past five days.
"This is pure cowardice.
"They're obviously worried about the local population, living in that area.
"And all of it says one thing.
"All this wonderful talk we have about diversity, how wonderful it is, well if this is multi-culturalism, if we're so scared of these extremists that celebrate terror on the streets of London then we're in a bad place.
"I'm sorry to the FA, you can take the knee all you like.
"But this makes you total, utter hypocrites."
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
England star Ollie Watkins scored the only goal of the game as his side beat Australia 1-0
GETTY
As for the match itself, England boss Gareth Southgate was happy with the way his team performed and secured victory.
“We made a lot of changes, that made it really difficult or the players,” he said.
“It’s tough playing international when you haven't got a lot of caps behind you.
“I gave them a really tough challenge and Australia were good, they were athletic and well organised. So I’m pleased for the win after putting them in the position.
“There were some positives, we know we can play better and it was tough for the players but you need to give players the opportunity on this stage.”
You may like
