Moroccan Tennis Player Boycotts Match Against Israelis in Protest Over Gaza Conflict

Younes Lalami and his Swedish teammate Simon Freund had beaten Greeks Stefanos Sakellaridis and Michalis Sakellaridis in the round of 16 and were supposed to face the Israeli team on Thursday in the quarter-finals. But to everyone’s surprise, the Moroccan tennis player withdrew from this important match as a protest against the Israeli attacks on Gaza.

On social media, Younes Lalami’s decision has sparked a wave of reactions. While some believe the Moroccan should not mix sports and politics, judging his decision as "cowardly and hypocritical", others on the other hand have hailed this symbolic decision.

This is not the first time that Moroccans have boycotted duels with Israeli teams. In 2016, the Moroccan wheelchair tennis team refused to play against an Israeli, earning them a two-year suspension.

These boycotts against Israel, which had ceased since the normalization of relations between the two countries, have resumed after the latest attacks on Gaza.