Soccer fans display huge portrait of Hitler in Sudan

Fans of Sudan’s Al Hilal soccer team displayed a banner with a portrait of Hitler and the word ‘Holocaust’ during a match.

By: Aryeh Savir, World Israel News

Supporters of Sudan’s Al Hilal Omdurman soccer club displayed a banner with a portrait of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and the word ‘Holocaust’ during a match over the weekend.

According to reports, this incident is a gruesome first for Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Fare network, an umbrella organization that advocates social inclusion and fights discrimination in soccer with a network in over 40 countries, has launched an investigation into the incident.

European sports teams have long used anti-Semitic and Holocaust motifs as a way to degrade rival teams. Being associated with Judaism in the European soccer world is supposed to be a form of degradation. Fans call supporters of rival teams “Jewish” as a way of degrading them.

Earlier this month, anti-Semitic stickers of Holocaust victim Anne Frank surfaced at some soccer events in Germany. They first triggered a scandal involving Lazio fans in Italy. This incident was the latest in a long line of racist or anti-Semitic incidents involving Lazio supporters. Lazio’s ultras have long been known for their far right-wing political stances and fascist leanings. During a 1998 derby, Lazio ultras held up a banner directed at their Roma counterparts that read, “Auschwitz Is Your Country; the Ovens Are Your Homes.”