For the first time, a match was held between an Israeli team and that of an Arab country, according to a spokesman for the Ben Gurion University of the Negev. He said that at an inter-university handball tournament held last month in West Germany, a team from Ben Gurion University competed against a Tunisian group from the University of Sfax. The Tunisians won the contest by a score of 6-5.
The match, which took place at Malburg University in West Germany, was totally free of the political interference which has marked other international sports events, the university spokesman noted. “There is no room for politics on the sports field,” the Tunisian director was quoted as saying prior to assembling his team for the handball match.
Following the competition, Adi Toker, Ben Gurion University athletics director, and M. Noori, director of the Tunisian team, exchanged invitations for the two groups to visit each other’s campus. Players on the two teams become friendly during the tournament and even danced the “hora” together at a party hosted by the president of Malburg University. The match was the highlight of a 15-game tour in Germany and Denmark by the Israeli team.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
