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Barcelona's star Samuel Eto'o
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TEL AVIV (EJP) --- Exactly one week after he starred for Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League final in Paris, Cameroonian footballer Samuel Eto’o played in front a select Israeli crowd in a peace match on Wednesday evening.
The player many name as the best striker in the world had flown into Israel on Tuesday night on a trip organised by the Peres Center for Peace.
Eto’o's brief three-day visit was jam-packed with media photo-calls and events designed to maximise the promotion of his message of tolerance, including an auction of autographed football-related items.
The Barca striker, who scored the first goal in last week’s Champions League final which his team went on to win, is a well-known campaigner against racism in football. In February he famously threatened to walk off the field after being taunted with monkey chants.
Anti-racism campaign
In a press conference in the Dan Hotel in Tel Aviv on Wednesday Eto’o spoke about the need to combat racism around the world.
Although he recognised that the problem of racist chanting in Israeli football is different to in Europe, in that in Israel it is generally directed at Arab players, Eto’o said he still believed it is essential “to find solutions to the problems we have”.
"Racism has many faces in many places; but in essence, it is the same everywhere,” Eto’o stressed.
“We must recognize these problems before we can deal with them, and that is where I come in - by putting the spotlight on the problem. I don’t want to tell the big bosses what to do, but I can say that every decision taken against racism - be it by sports organizations such as FIFA, or by government institutions - is a good one. Every step is important on this path."
The auction the previous night raised more than 20,000 shekels (3,500 euros) for Peres Center projects, including its mixed football schools for Israeli and Palestinian children.
Items included a football signed by all the Barcelona players which was sold for 10,000 shekels as was a pair of Eto’o’s football boots signed by the man himself.
Peace match
On Wednesday afternoon Eto’o attended a “Mini World Cup” tournament which saw 24 mixed Israeli-Palestinian teams of seven youngsters compete for the coveted trophy, which was won by the players representing Italy.
And in the evening Eto’o joined in a peace game between a joint team of players from the Israeli professional clubs Bnei Sakhnin and Betar Jerusalem and a team of stars from the Israeli TV show Eretz Nehederet (A Wonderful Country).
There has been a history of violent clashes in recent years between fans of Betar, know to be the most right wing club in Israel, and Sakhnin, the most popular Arab team in Israel.
Shimon Peres, the president of the Peres Centre and deputy prime minister of Israel, spoke of his joy at seeing players of the two teams join together at the event.
“When I see Betar and Sakhnin together this is an Eretz Nehederet [wonderful land]," he said. "We hope there will be peace and end to violence."
After Eto’o accepted a trophy from Sports Minister Ophir Pines, he told the crowd. "I never thought I would be here in Israel with such important people. I have scored many goals in my life but this, to promote peace here, is one of the most beautiful."
