A 30-second football interview clip featuring a young man wearing a Brazil soccer jersey was recently shared on the r/TikTokCringe subreddit. With more than 26,000 upvotes, the video shows a young man in it talking about the Mali-Israel match at the 2024 Paris Olympics just as an older man holding an Israeli flag interrupts him and enters the scene.
The young man initially talks about the game itself and says that Israel had played better at the beginning but that Mali was now dominating. For some reason, however, the older man stops behind him, wraps an Israeli flag around his neck, and repeatedly says, “No politics here,” so the conversation goes from a discussion about football to politics.
At first, the interviewee says that he is "just talking about football" and once again mentions what he thinks of the Olympic match. But as the older man's interruption continues, the Brazil jersey-wearing younger man begins chanting, "Free, free Palestine."
The clip is not new; it was recorded during the Paris Olympics on July 24, 2024, after Mali and Israel played a men's soccer group-stage match at Parc des Princes. According to FIFA, the game ended in a 1-1 draw. Mali equalized through Cheickna Doumbia after Israel had taken the lead through an own goal by Malian defender Hamidou Diallo.
The man who was wearing a Brazil jersey was later identified by Belgian broadcaster VRT as Joppe Billiau, a 25-year-old student. Billiau told VRT he had only intended to discuss the match and was surprised by the attention, but said the other spectator's repeated interruptions led him to begin chanting.
The Israel-Mali match itself had a political aspect already, as pro-Palestinian demonstrators and some spectators displayed Palestinian flags during the game. The Times of Israel reported that the country's national anthem was booed before the match and that some fans held signs reading "Free Palestine." Stewards had to intervene after that.
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On Reddit, some commenters praised the young man's response, like one who said, "Someone was minding their own business when an Israeli guy rudely and wrongly interrupts him and antagonises him over and over. Then, when the guy decides to defend himself from the unwarranted interruption, the guy who interfered gets mad and starts abusing him. (…) Where have I seen that before?"
Several comments also went beyond the incident and started arguments about Israel, Palestine, antisemitism and the war in Gaza.
