MLS will allow the Columbus Crew to display a Palestinian flag in its stadium to represent its new signing, Wessam Abou Ali, although the veto will persist in the rest of the fields, league sources told Efe.
In October 2023, shortly after the start of Israel’s war in Gaza, MLS banned the display of national flags in stadiums that had not previously been present on a regular basis, including that of Palestine.
The star signing of striker Abou Ali from Egypt’s Al-Ahly for $7.5 million prompted the Columbus Crew, at the urging of its supporters’ club – Nordecke – to ask the league for an exception to the rule.
Abou Ali, born in Denmark, represents the Palestinian national team at the international level. The striker has scored four goals in ten games for his national team. With Al-Ahly, he scored 38 goals in 59 games.
The Columbus Crew’s request to MLS went beyond Abou Ali and included the ability to display the home flags of any of its players.
In response, MLS has authorized the club to “install a flag of each country representing the senior national team or a player’s country of birth in the fan section of Lower.com Field for home matches.”
League sources detailed that “this is not an exception that allows fans to enter the stadium with Palestinian flags or flags of the other countries represented on the club’s roster.”
“Policies on country flags in stadiums are still in effect. Even in Columbus,” they noted.
A spokesman for Nordecke, Collin Hill, told The Athletic that with the signing of Abou Ali they made the request to the club because “it seemed like the policy was now being interpreted differently, or applied differently.”
At a match in March 2025, the supporters’ group unfurled several Ukrainian flags in support of defender Yevhen Cheberko, but were not prevented from doing so.
“There was no rejection, no approval either, we just took them. We weren’t stopped at the gates, we weren’t asked to show the flag or anything, and we didn’t have any problems with that,” Hill explained.
Columbus Crew’s next home game at Lower.com Field will be this Saturday against the New England Revolution.
The Columbus Crew has players from around fifteen countries, including Argentina, Guatemala, Uruguay, France and Algeria.
There is another exception in MLS to its flag policy and that is the one granted to the Philadelphia Union to display the Israeli flag on behalf of its striker Tai Baribo, an international with that country, according to EFE.
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