Supporters of Celtic have been accused of 'practising pure, unadulterated bigotry dressed up as virtue' by the billionaire president of the World Jewish Congress because of their protests against Robbie Keane.
Some Celtic supporters made it clear they did not want their former player Keane to become their new manager after he was reportedly in a battle with Martin O'Neill to get the Parkhead job because of his spell as manager of Israeli side Maccabi Tel Aviv.
The backlash has led to veteran boss O'Neill set to be appointed permanent manager, with Keane on the hunt for a new job after he left Hungarian side Ferencvaros.
But that's led to a wild attack from Israeli-Canadian billionaire Sylvan Adams, who is also the president of the World Jewish Congress and philanthropist, who has donated hundreds of millions of pounds to educational and medical projects in Israel and Canada.
He raged: "Look at the absolute circus happening in Scotland right now. Robbie Keane - one of the most respected figures in world football, Ireland's all-time leading scorer and a Premier League icon - is currently a top contender to become the next manager of Celtic FC in Glasgow.
"But a vocal, radical faction of Celtic supporters' groups is aggressively launching a campaign to blacklist him from the job. His crime? He spent a season coaching Maccabi Tel Aviv.
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"Anyone trying to destroy Robbie Keane’s career because he coached in Israel isn’t standing up for human rights - they are practising pure, unadulterated bigotry dressed up as virtue.
"If you think a football manager becomes 'impure' simply by breathing Israeli air, you don't need a political debate, you’re a bigot, pure and simple.
"The global elite isn’t just infected with Israel Derangement Syndrome - they are now resurrecting ideological 'purity laws' that belong in the darkest chapters of 1930s Europe.
"The historical irony is deafening. Sport achieved greatness because it rejected this exact tribal dogma. The Olympic movement reached its finest hour when Jesse Owens shattered the racist, exclusionary purity laws of Nazi Berlin on the world stage.
"The campaign against Robbie Keane travels in the dead opposite direction - demanding that we judge people by association, punish them for contact, and exclude them for crossing political boundaries.
"Protect the game. I support Robbie Keane, he is a football hero."
