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Basque Side Beats Palestine 3–0 as Bilbao Rallies in Politicized Friendly

The fixture served as a protest platform, with organisers promoting unverified claims about athlete deaths and destroyed sports facilities in Gaza.

Overview

  • Bilbao’s city council counted 20,000 people at one of the marches tied to the match, where ultras and leftist groups paraded with pyrotechnics and a bin was set on fire.
  • Inside San Mamés, 51,396 spectators watched Euskadi win 3–0, with chants in support of Palestine, stadium announcements in Arabic, and a field display referencing Picasso’s Guernica.
  • Flares and fireworks from the ultras’ section drew boos from other sections of the crowd during the game.
  • Earlier, thousands gathered at the Arriaga plaza for a tribute to Palestinian athletes, where Basque and Navarrese sports figures laid red carnations on a Palestinian flag.
  • Organisers claimed 1,300 elite and 894 Olympic athletes have been killed since October 2023 and said 300 sports facilities were destroyed, figures reported as their assertions and not independently verified in the coverage.