UPDATE 1-Olympics-Israel’s opening soccer match provides first test for Paris 2024 security

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Large security presence for Group D clash

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Game is first Olympic action by Israeli delegation

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Gaza war between Israel, Hamas increased risk

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Mali cut ties with Israel in 1973

(Adds Israeli, Mali fans, pre-match atmosphere)

By John Irish

PARIS, July 24 (Reuters) – France deployed hundreds of police officers to secure Israel’s opening Olympic soccer match against Mali on Wednesday, a first security test ahead of the Games’ official opening ceremony with fans from both teams downplaying the political context.

The Paris 2024 Summer Games take place amid pronounced security concerns and heightened geopolitical tensions, including over Israel’s war in Gaza. Israeli competitors will be escorted by elite tactical units to and from events and given 24-hour protection throughout the Olympics, officials say.

As thousands of fans arrived for the evening kick-off, police officers cordoned off the streets around the Parc des Princes in western Paris and set-up a perimeter a few kilometres away from the stadium.

“The protection systems for the Israeli delegation, their teams, the referees, the members of the Olympic committee, are all in place,” Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told Le Parisien newspaper on Tuesday.

Some 1,000 security personnel are being deployed, equivalent to the numbers in April for the UEFA Champions League match between Paris St Germain and Barcelona that was also held at the Parc des Princes.

Israel’s own internal security service, Shin Bet, will help with security at the game, which Darmanin is due to attend with Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

Israel’s budget for protecting its athletes and wider delegation had increased substantially compared with the Tokyo Games in 2021, an Israeli official said.

“It’s complicated. We are in the middle of a war,” said Orien Mien, who had travelled from Jerusalem. “But the security situation is great and we will win.”

Other Israeli fans also said they wanted an Olympic truce to forget the war in Gaza and enjoy the festivities.

The Palestinian Olympic Committee this week called for Israel to be excluded from the Games in an open letter to International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach. The letter accused Israel of breaching the traditional Olympic truce, with continued military action in Gaza.

French far-left lawmakers have urged protests against Israel’s participation in the Games.

“I don’t really care about the minority who don’t want Israel here,” said Michael Levy, 50, whose nephew Ethan plays in the Israeli team. He adding that he was here to have fun and enjoy the football.

“Anti-semitism is a disease and I’m not here to be the cure.”

Dressed in a traditional dress in the yellow, green and red colours of Mali, Aisha Cisse, who had travelled from Bamako and follows the country’s soccer teams at all international tournaments, danced and sang her support saying she was simply here to watch them win.

The heavy security presence appeared to make the prospects of major protests unlikely and Malian fans echoed their rival Israeli supporters’ comments amid the good-natured atmosphere, colourful scarves and flags waved around the stadium .

“We are here for the football and we shouldn’t mix politics with football,” said Franco-Malian Kouma, 31, who works in the restaurant business.

‘GREAT ATMOSPHERE’

The Israel-Mali match offers a first snapshot of how other competitors and the wider public respond to Israeli participation in the games.

The Paris 2024 Games take place five decades after Palestinian militants killed 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

At their training headquarters in Croissy, some 20 kilometres west of Paris, the Israeli players on Tuesday sought to come across as relaxed, but there was some tension in the air.

Media minders yelled “only football” when reporters attempted to ask questions about the political backdrop.

“We came here to win and achieve things with this team and are very excited,” Omri Gandelman, a midfielder who plays for Belgian side Gent, told reporters. “We have a job to do.”

The team coach, who oversaw the soccer squad’s first Olympic qualification since 1976, said he had no concerns over the match-night atmosphere.

“It will be a great atmosphere and I’m sure we will have a lot of supporters,” Guy Luzon said. “We don’t care what happens around us.”

As a former French colony, there is a large Malian diaspora in France and irrespective of whether there is hostility towards Israel or not, they were in force as they did in a pre-tournament friendly on the outskirts of Paris earlier this week.

Mali, a mainly Muslim state, broke off ties with Israel in 1973 after the Yom Kippur war. The Malian government, which took power through a coup in 2021, has repeatedly expressed support to the Palestinians and condemned Israel’s actions in Gaza. (Reporting by John Irish; additional reporting by Yves Herman, Juliette Jabkhiro and Layli Foroudi; Editing by Richard Lough, Sharon Singleton and Pritha Sarkar)

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