Soccer: Udine refuses to sponsor Italy-Israel match

(ANSA) - ROME, JUL 17 - The city of Udine has declined an invitation from Italian Soccer Federation (FIGC) President Gabriele Gravina for it to be among the sponsors of the Italy-Israel Nations League match scheduled to take place at its Friuli stadium on October 14.
    The city told ANSA that it had decided that sponsoring the match "would be divisive with Israel being a State at war".
    Relations with Parliament Minister Luca Ciriani said the decision by Mayor Alberto Felice De Toni's centre-left executive was "wrong".
    "Sport and politics should remain two separate things, in part because the national team represents all Israelis, regardless of the judgements each of us can have about their government, which is, and remains, a democracy," he added.
    "As far as I'm concerned, I'll do everything I can to be present at the Friuli stadium on the day of the match, both to cheer on Italy and to express my affinity for the Israeli people".
    (ANSA).