Sapir College team and Iranian exiles share emotional meeting at Germany tournament

A soccer team from Sapir Academic College in southern Israel competed in a memorial tournament in Düsseldorf, Germany, and ended up sharing a rare and emotional encounter with an Iranian exile side. The event was held in memory of Ilan Fiorentino, the security coordinator of Kibbutz Nahal Oz, who was killed on October 7.

The Sapir students played against "Persia Lions," a Tehran-based team made up of opponents of the Iranian regime who had been forced to leave their country. Israeli and Iranian flags were flown side by side near the field, while supporters’ cheers drowned out pro-Palestinian demonstrators outside the venue. The tournament was organized by the Jewish Agency.

After a tense week, Sapir won the cup. On the way to the title, the team won twice and drew once. Omri Schreiber, chair of the Sapir student union, who initiated and led the delegation, said the group had gone to Germany with "a modest dream" of representing the students and their home in the Gaza border region with dignity, but returned with the trophy and with something more meaningful.

Schreiber said the last three years had brought the college community "pain, loss, evacuation, reserve duty and uncertainty," and added that simply returning to routine had often felt impossible after October 7. He described the meeting with the Iranian players as the most moving moment of the trip: "The moment Israelis and Iranians spoke to each other and wished for peace between the peoples was, in my eyes, no less moving than lifting the cup. That is the real victory." Fiorentino’s widow, Sharon Fiorentino, presented the trophy and individual medals to the players.