Dutch side apologise over ‘Arab snub’ of Israeli player

Dutch football club Vitesse Arnhem have issued a public apology after they failed to take their Israeli player on a mid-season training camp, amid claims he wouldn’t be allowed entry into the UAE.

The Eredivisie side had initially claimed that they had been told by the UAE foreign ministry that defender Dan Mori (pictured) would not be permitted to attend their trip to Abu Dhabi.

That claim led to the UAE embassy in The Hague releasing a statement on their website which read: “The embassy has followed – with interest – in the media the issue of the Dutch soccer team visit to the UAE, the embassy would like to categorically confirm that there was no application or request made to us for this visit.”

However, the club has now said that it had been given verbal confirmation that Mori would be allowed to travel, but never formally applied for a visa. The club statement said: “The decision to travel to Abu Dhabi without Mori is understandable but unfortunate, in retrospect, different organisations have said there were options to make it possible for Mori to travel to the UAE. The complexity around organising travel to countries with specific entry procedures in a short space of time meant not all the options were utilised.

“Vitesse regrets the commotion and offers apologies to everyone who feels in any way affected by the decision to exclude Mori.”