To the Organizers of Union Cup 2025, Oslo Raballder Rugbyklubb, and IGR Leadership,

What happened to #WithYou and #RugbyForAll?

We, the undersigned, express deep concern over the exclusion of Tel Aviv Ibex, Israel’s inclusive rugby team, from Union Cup 2025 in Oslo.

This exclusion isn’t due to misconduct, rule-breaking, or proven safety concerns. It’s a political move, driven by pressure to boycott Israeli presence—directly contradicting the Union Cup’s core value of inclusion.

Let’s be clear: singling out Israeli athletes, while no other nation’s teams face the same scrutiny, is not solidarity, but selective discrimination. And when the only Jewish-majority nation is uniquely targeted, it veers into antisemitism, intentional or not.

This sends the troubling message that Jews and Israelis must abandon their national identity to take part in inclusive spaces. That violates both the spirit of sport and basic human dignity.

As LGBTQ+ Jews and Arabs, Ibex are no strangers to exclusion and division. But this is why Ibex exists, to break down the barriers society imposes on them.

The team is a living breathing model of coexistence, not a signal of virtue. They hold various political ideologies, but stay united in friendship and sport.

Ibex embodies the ideals IGR claims to champion.

No other IGR team is asked to answer for its government. Yet Ibex was singled out, interrogated, and excluded. IGR’s failure to challenge this double standard, and its tacit alignment with the unsubstantiated safety concerns of Norge Rugby’s, sets a dangerous precedent.

We call on:

Oslo Raballder and Norge Rugby to reverse this decision.
IGR to defend all member clubs equally.
The IGR community to stand with Ibex and keep politics out of inclusive sport.
Reinstate Ibex. Reaffirm inclusion. Reject discrimination.

Sincerely, 

Lewis Fuld
North American IGR Member