The Maccabi football team was marooned in Athens today after promised Bulgarian visas failed to arrive. The team was invited to play several games in Sofia, the Bulgarian capital, and was told by the Bulgarian Legation in Tel Aviv that visas would reach the team in Athens.
When the visas failed to arrive, a phone call was made to the Sofia Lokomotive Sports Club. The secretary of the club told the Israelis, “Please believe us, we can do nothing about it. Please do not come now.”
Meanwhile, an Israeli draft resolution, forbidding the holding of regional games in any country unwilling to grant entry visas to athletes of any other country in its region, was placed on the agenda for the next meeting of the International Olympic Committee. This draft resolution is aimed at prohibiting the holding of games in Arab and other countries if they do not grant visas to Israelis.
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