The anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement has called on South African soccer clubs to cancel their friendlies against Maccabi Tel Aviv, scheduled for July 13 and 16 in Spain, i24NEWS reported.
Maccabi is due to face Orlando Pirates and AFC Bournemouth during their pre-season training camp, but the BDS movement is trying to dissuade the two South African teams from taking part.
“As South Africans, football fans and activists in solidarity against Israeli apartheid, we call on the Orlando Pirates not to participate in the friendly match against Maccabi Tel Aviv scheduled for July 13 in Spain. There's nothing friendly about a match against a team representing the apartheid state of Israel,” read the BDS statement quoted by i24NEWS.
The organization recently issued a statement in the same vein when Irish soccer legend Robbie Keane was appointed coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv, saying, "We ask him not to coach in the apartheid state."
This movement, which calls for an international boycott of Israel, has already contributed to the souring of relations between Israel and South Africa in recent years.
Anti-Israel sentiments remain prevalent in South Africa, where the government has frequently accused Israel of applying a policy of “apartheid” towards Palestinian Arabs.
Last month, a South African lawmaker called for a Cape Town-based Jewish day school to be “deregistered” due to the fact that many of the school’s graduates go to Israel and enlist in the IDF.
Earlier this year, South Africa Rugby withdrew an invitation to Israeli club Tel Aviv Heat to compete in a second-tier competition.
Last year, South Africa's former chief justice was ordered to apologize for comments he made two years earlier pledging support for Israel.
In 2019, the country announced plans to downgrade its embassy in Tel Aviv.