The Italian Football Coaches’ Association (AIAC) is pushing for Israel to be suspended from international competition over the war on Gaza.
Ahead of Italy’s World Cup qualifiers against Israel in the next two months, the AIAC says ‘Israel must stop. Football must also take action.’
The AIAC has written a formal letter to the Italian football federation, to be forwarded to European and world football’s governing bodies, calling for Israel to be suspended.
The letter states: ‘The AIAC Board of Directors unanimously believes that, given the daily massacres, which have also resulted in hundreds of deaths among managers, coaches, and athletes, it is legitimate, necessary, indeed a duty, to place at the centre of federation talks the request, to be submitted to UEFA and FIFA, for the temporary exclusion of Israel from sporting competitions.
‘Because the pain of the past cannot cloud anyone’s conscience and humanity.’
Italy is set to play Israel on neutral turf in Debrecen, Hungary, on 8th September before hosting the return match in Udine on 14th October.
AIAC vice president Giancarlo Camolese said: ‘We could just focus on playing, looking the other way. But we believe that is not right.
The Azzurri also played Israel in Udine last October in a Nations League match that saw protests before and during the game and intense security measures, including snipers on the roof of the stadium.
Italian doctors on Thursday questioned the Israeli regime’s claim that a Palestinian woman died of leukaemia, pointing instead to severe malnutrition after she arrived from Gaza too weak to survive.
The 20-year-old Palestinian Marah Abu Zuhri was evacuated from Gaza on a humanitarian flight organised by the Italian government but died in Pisa less than 24 hours after arriving at Santa Chiara Hospital.
Israeli authorities claimed Marah died from severe leukaemia. They rejected suggestions that malnutrition contributed to her death.
Italian doctors, however, disputed the leukaemia diagnosis, saying that tests revealed no signs of the disease.
Professor Sara Galimberti, director of Haematology at Santa Chiara, said Marah arrived extremely weak and bedridden for a long period.
Galimberti said: ‘We started therapy for leukaemia that night.
‘When test results arrived, we stopped treatment because leukaemia was not confirmed.
‘Doctors provided high-calorie nutrition and transfusions, but Marah went into acute respiratory failure and suffered cardiac arrest.’
Airport strikes in Portugal and Spain
IN PORTUGAL the Metallurgical and Related Industries Union (SIMA) has issued a new strike notice at Menzies (formerly Groundforce) that will run from 3rd September to 2nd January 2026, covering all national airports.
According to the notice, the strikes by workers at the company responsible for ground handling services will take place during alternating periods between 3rd September and 2nd January 2026, including long weekends and busy dates, such as Christmas and New Year’s Day.
Among the demands, the union demands an end to base salaries below the national minimum wage, payment for night shifts, the maintenance of rights such as access to parking, and compliance with the previously signed memorandum of understanding.
Furthermore, the union states that the existence of base salaries below the national minimum wage, goes ‘contrary to what TAP, as a shareholder of the company, considered in a letter sent to SPDH/Menzies, in which it considers this situation to be illegal’.
This new notice from SIMA comes after strikes held in July and August, and the suspension of work stoppages scheduled for the end of August, following contacts with the Ministry of Labour. Menzies, for its part, assured that the cancellation of the recent strikes ‘was not the result of any agreement, negotiation, or concession’, asserting that its position ‘remains unchanged’ and that there were no changes to the commitments made until 2029.
The union also states that for the strike announced in the recent notice, ‘workers will ensure the services necessary for the safety and maintenance of equipment and facilities’.
Therefore, SIMA believes that, given the current circumstances, particularly the number of workers covered by the notice issued and its widespread publicity, it is only necessary to ensure the minimum services previously listed.
According to an official union source, these workers represent approximately 4 per cent of Menzies’ approximately 3,600 employees.
The first strike will take place from midnight on September 3rd until midnight on September 9th, followed by another strike from September 12th to 15th, from September 19th to 22nd, and from September 26th to 28th.
In October, strikes are scheduled from 3rd to 6th, October 10th to 13th, 17th to 20th, 24th to 27th, and 31st to 3rd.
Further strikes will follow from November 7th to 10th, 14th to 17th, 21st to 24th, 28th to 1st, 5th to 8th, and 12th to 15th.
The final strike is scheduled from December 19th to January 2nd, 2026.
The Spanish Ryanair strike continues after an initial three-day stoppage from 15th to 17th August), staff will strike every Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
The walkouts are timed to hit the busiest hours at airports: 5:00-9:00, 12:00-15:00, and 21:00-23:59.
The action directly impacts Ryanair’s 12 Spanish bases: Alicante, Barcelona, Girona, Ibiza, Lanzarote, Madrid, Málaga, Palma de Mallorca, Santiago de Compostela, Sevilla, Tenerife South, and Valencia.
While airports without a fixed Ryanair base, such as Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, Menorca, Santander and others, are not officially part of the strike, they may still suffer knock-on delays and cancellations due to disrupted schedules.
- French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday slammed as ‘abject’ and ‘erroneous’ an accusation from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the move to recognise a Palestinian state was fuelling anti-Semitism in France.
A spokesman for Macron said: ‘France protects and will always protect its Jewish citizens. This allegation will not go unanswered.
‘This is a time for seriousness and responsibility, not for conflation and manipulation.’
Last month, Macron said France would formally recognise a Palestinian state during a UN meeting in September, it was the first G7 country to do so but has since been followed by the UK.
France is among at least 145 of the 193 UN members that now recognise or plan to recognise a Palestinian state, according to data compiled by the AFP news agency
Australia joined the list earlier this month, announcing its intention to recognise a Palestinian state in September.