THE MATCH. About a thousand Hapoel Tel Aviv fans reached the Bergamo stadium in a procession around 6 p.m. on Thursday, August 20, to attend the Conference League match against Atalanta. About fifty members of the “Bergamo Network for Palestine” were at the demonstration on via Pitentino. Large deployment of law enforcement.
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Reading 4 min.After a quiet morning, with few Hapoel Tel Aviv fans well disguised between the city center and Città Alta (few visible jerseys and scarves, the groups moved “in plain clothes”), the situation became livelier in the early afternoon of Thursday, August 20.
The bulk of the supporters gathered around viale Papa Giovanni in Bergamo. So much so that, despite initial different instructions, in the end a good number of Israeli fans – almost all wearing the club jersey, and with them some “twinned” St. Pauli fans – were directed to piazzale Alpini.
There, with a large law enforcement presence, shortly before 5 p.m. the fans were loaded onto shuttle buses heading to the stadium without particular tensions. Traffic was obviously affected. Several groups of Hapoel fans reached the stadium independently. Around 6 p.m., a procession of about a thousand Israeli fans formed and reached the New Balance Arena: they were escorted to the pre-screening of the away sector, on the edge of the Curva Sud of the city stadium. The away sector of the stadium, which at full capacity should hold 1,300 seats, is nevertheless sold out.
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The Pro Pal demonstration on via Pitentino
Also around 6 p.m., a hundred people gathered on via Pitentino for the demonstration organized by the “Bergamo Network for Palestine”, under the slogans “No to the shame match” and “Show Hapoel the red card”. The initiative was also joined by “Usb Bergamo”. “Sport cannot be a cover for the crimes of a genocidal regime,” say the organizers of the demonstration. The protesters used smoke bombs and chanted slogans: some tension with law enforcement over the display of a protest banner.
Safety works at the stadium
In the morning, some safety works were carried out at the stadium to secure the square in view of the entry and exit of Israeli fans.
Pre-match security procedures
Away fans will be welcomed directly at the stadium, with screening to prevent the entry of Palestinian flags inside the New Balance Arena and a security level similar to that implemented in the city for other international-level matches, such as the National team last March, Borussia Dortmund in February, and Bayern Munich also in March. Therefore, state police, carabinieri, and financial police personnel will arrive, as support, also from outside the city with officers and officials in public order gear, but also specialized in anti-terrorism and bomb disposal.
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No-fly zone over the stadium
These are the main security aspects ahead of the Conference League play-offs tonight at the stadium, where Atalanta and the Israeli team Hapoel Tel Aviv will face off. Already between Tuesday and Wednesday, law enforcement leaders coordinated in several meetings at the Prefecture and Police Headquarters. In particular, devices will be activated to prohibit drone flights over and around the stadium: on Wednesday, the Prefecture obtained from Enac, the National Civil Aviation Authority, a total no-fly zone over the New Balance Arena. The ban started Wednesday afternoon and will last until the end of today’s match and the subsequent clearing of the stadium by both home and away fans. The focus is precisely on preventing any type of drone flight in the stadium area, for obvious security reasons.
A thousand Israeli fans in Bergamo
About a thousand Israeli fans are expected in the city, who will be escorted directly to the Curva Sud of the New Balance Arena for the scheduled kick-off at 8:30 p.m. On Wednesday, there was talk of an initial gathering at Campo Utili, an option later replaced by a more effective direct transfer to the stadium. In a statement, Atalanta invites “all fans attending the match to arrive at the stadium early to avoid queues and waits at the entrances. The advice is therefore to reach the stadium with sufficient advance, both to better enjoy the anticipation of the match and to facilitate a faster and smoother access for everyone.” Gates will open from 6:30 p.m.
The Bergamo Network for Palestine demonstration
Just half an hour earlier, at 6 p.m. on via Pitentino, the “Bergamo Network for Palestine” organized a demonstration under the slogans “No to the shame match” and “Show Hapoel the red card”, which was also joined by “Usb Bergamo”: “In the face of the ongoing genocide in Palestine, there is no room for neutrality – writes the Network –. Zionism has massacred almost 600 Palestinian athletes and officials, razed facilities to the ground, and denied every basic right. Preventing the match between Atalanta and Hapoel Tel Aviv means refusing to legitimize ethnic cleansing and Israeli colonial policies. Sport cannot be a cover for the crimes of a genocidal regime.”
These statements follow international calls to UEFA to exclude all Israeli clubs from sports competitions, although, in the case of Hapoel, it should be noted that the club is linked to the anti-nationalist wing of Israel. In any case, tonight at the New Balance Arena, entrance screenings will also serve to prevent Palestinian flags from being brought in.
The “Boycott Israel” writing on the stadium
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the luminous writing “Boycott Israel” was projected on the outer walls of the stadium: an initiative claimed by the “Bergamo Ground Crew” of the Global Sumud Flotilla: “You can watch a football match, not a genocide – they explain –. Boycotting Israel is no longer just a political option among others: it is a humanitarian necessity, a moral duty towards the Palestinian people, who are paying with their lives for international silence and complicity. We lit up the stadium walls to shine a spotlight on a state that, before the eyes of the world, is accused of genocide in Gaza and increasingly violent military occupation in the West Bank. Every football match promotes the normalization of violence, every commercial agreement is complicity. Cooperation cannot be built with those who bomb hospitals, schools, and refugee camps. Bergamo cannot be complicit.”
