Three Tunisian chess players were removed from the FIDE World School Chess Championships that took place in Greece recently for boycotting Israeli players 12 times.
One of the chess players who was boycotted was nine-year-old Noam Sasson, who won the European chess championship last year.
"I came to the championship together with my father and my coach and I really wanted to play in all the championship games and represent Israel with pride," he said. "I met participants from all over the world here and I always prefer playing on the board than sitting on the sidelines. I hope that the boy who boycotted me doesn't hate me, God forbid, and that in the future we can play together."
"I met participants from all over the world here and I always prefer playing on the board than sitting on the sidelines. I hope that the boy who boycotted me doesn't hate me, God forbid, and that in the future we can play together."
Noam Sasson
Tunisian players booted from the championship after boycotting Israelis
After a number of emails were sent to the organizers by the players' parents, the three Tunisian players who boycotted the Israeli players were removed from participating in the ninth and last rounds.
Yevgeny Levitan, who accompanied his daughter Liel, appealed multiple times to the organizers concerning the boycotts, saying that the boycotts are against the spirit of the game.
Lior Aizenberg, manager of the "Chess4All" club, called the step a precedent in the chess community, expressing hopes that this will deter participants from Arab countries from boycotting Israeli players.