Ghanaian Football and Israeli Flags 17 years, 10 months ago by Martey Dodoo

Several viewers of the Ghana-Czech Republic game in the World Cup seemed confused as to why Ghanaian player John Pantsil was waving an Israeli flag as the Ghanaians beat the Czechs, 2-0. I have heard many explanations, including one suggesting that it was a repudiation of Holocaust denial!

Since a number of people have been directing to this website (or more specifically, to an earlier post I wrote about racism directed toward an Ghanaian player hoping to join an Israeli team), I feel compelled to provide the true explanation: as Haaretz explains, John Pantsil plays for Hapoel Tel Aviv, an Israeli football club:

[Pentsil] apparently kept the flag tucked away into his sock during the match. In the past, Pentsil has displayed both the Ghanaian and Israeli flags during soccer matches, most recently after Hapoel TA won the Israeli Cup.

So now you know.