Hungarian flag was banned during “Szolnok Olaj” vs “Hapoel Holon” basketball match in Szolnok

[Szegedist]

At the EuroChallange Cup basketball match between “Szolnok Olaj” and the Israeli “Hapoel Holon” in Szolnok on Tuesday organizers didn't let fans carrying Hungarian flags entering the sport center.

Apparently, the request of the ban came from the Israeli team and organizers of the game slavishly complied with the request even without questioning the reason behind it.

Besides the Hungarian flag, the Székely flag and the use of banners were also outlawed during the match.

When it became clear that organizers were not joking fans left the sport center and boycotted the game.

What kind of world are we living in when a foreign country can outlaw the national flag of the host nation? This is really humiliating. Do organizers realize that this is our country and not an “earth pile” that foreigners can use the way they want it said the fans after leaving the sport center.

Outlawing the national flag in a sport event is unprecedented by any standard; it can never happen for instance, at Ajax Amsterdam soccer games where more Israeli flags can be seen than the actual symbols of the soccer club said the fans.

And what was the justification behind the unprecedented police presence, which was conspicuous both in and around the sport center, but officers also mingled with spectators in the viewing area; even a 50 member swat team was deployed while the Israeli security chief constantly watched the spectators.

Due to the extraordinary security measures and the fact that hardcore fans boycotted the match, the sport event completely lost its festive atmosphere.

By the way, the Hungarian basketball team won Tuesday's EuroChallange Cup game against Israeli “Hapoel Holon” by a score of 81-66.


http://www.hungarianambiance.com/2013/02/the-hungarian-flag-was-banned-during.html



I Think Jews should be banned from entering Hungary, you know, for safety measures :mad:

[Sippola]

http://www.hungarianambiance.com/2013/02/the-hungarian-flag-was-banned-during.html



I Think Jews should be banned from entering Hungary, you know, for safety measures :mad:

Although I agree that the national flag of any country should never be banned from a sporting event, I wonder if there is more to this story..

[Black Sun Dimension]

That's about the biggest humiliation ive seen in recent years.

[Szegedist]

Jobbik reaction:

The head of Jobbik Budapest wing György Szilagyi asked Interior Minister Sándor Pintér the following questions: On what grounds did police ban the national flag? What kind of security risk did the national flag pose for Israeli athletes?

Szilagyi also wants to know why Szolnok mayor Ferenc Szalay -- who is also the president of the National Sport and Tourism Committee and chairman of the basketball federation – did nothing against this scandalous decision.

POLICE AND ORGANIZERS POINT FINGERS AT EACH OTHER

Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county police department issued a statement denying the “rumors” of the heavy police presence around the sport center; they claim that only two police officers patrolled the area and it was not them but the organizers of the game that prohibited the national flags inside the sport center. This contradicts to hundreds of spectators accounts that are saying the exact opposite.

In the mean time, officials of the sport club and the organizers of the event wrapped themselves in deep silence refusing to answer any question regarding the scandal.