European football's governing body, Uefa, has been accused of showing "total insensitivity" to the "blatant and entrenched discrimination" of Israel against Palestinian sportspeople.
A group led by Nobel peace prize laureate, former archbishop Desmond Tutu, and footballer Frédéric Kanouté have accused the body of "rewarding Israel's cruel and lawless behaviour" against Palestinians by allowing Israel to host the European Under-21 Championship next month.
In a letter in today's Guardian, they call on Uefa "to reverse the choice of Israel as a venue".
Signatories of the letter include the actor Roger Lloyd Pack, film-maker Ken Loach, comic Alexei Sayle, Michael Mansfield QC and the Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn.
• This article was amended on 28 May 2013. The original misquoted a section of the letter referred to, using the word "crass" where the letter actually says "cruel".