“I cannot understand how a politician who can do a lot to stop the slaughter, anywhere, can go to sleep seeing all the children and all the civilians dead,” he added. “I don’t understand it. You know, the idea football should solve these problems? No way.”

The UEFA received backlash from pro-Israel supporters in August for displaying a banner on the pitch at the UEFA Super Cup final in Udine, Italy, that said, “Stop killing children. Stop killing civilians.” The UEFA invited two children from the Gaza Strip to participate in the medal ceremony at the same match. The organization was accused of double standards for displaying the banner, since the UEFA bans political messaging at matches and recently launched disciplinary proceedings against the Israeli team Maccabi Haifa after its fans displayed an anti-Polish banner. 

Talking to Politico, Čeferin defended the “Stop killing children” banner and insisted that it was not political. He even claimed that he had “full, full support” from the president of the Israeli Football Federation, who he said is a good friend. While expressing support for the banner, Čeferin also suggested that Israel is waging a war in Gaza because of “geopolitical interests,” and not in response to the deadly Hamas-led terrorist attack in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, or in an effort to rescue the hostages abducted by the terrorists and held captive in Gaza.

“When you see children dying all around the world because of — it’s a diplomatic statement, if I say — reckless politicians. Whoever thinks that ‘Stop Killing Children, Stop Killing Civilians’ is a political message is an idiot, for me,” Čeferin said. “We don’t interfere in politics, but we will not say that killing children anywhere or civilians is a good thing. We have to say we despise it, and we will always say it.”

“If such a big thing is going on, such a terrible thing that doesn’t allow me to sleep — not me, all my colleagues — nobody in this organization said we shouldn’t do it. No one. Then you have to do what is the right thing to do,” he told Politico. “It’s terrible that children are dying because of political interest, starving to death. Mohamed, who was giving the medals [at last month’s UEFA Super Cup] with me, lost his mother and his father [in Gaza]. And he was heavily injured. I’ve never seen a child hugging me so much as he did. He needs love. He doesn’t need another bomb on his head because of a geopolitical interest.”

Keshet International and Caledonia TV are looking to partner with a British broadcast on “Hitler’s Favorite Royals” before launching pre-sales at MIPCOM, the annual trade show for the television industry held in Cannes, France, that will take place in October. The series is being produced by Caledonia TV.

“From Queen Victoria’s dynastic ties to Germany to Hitler’s attempts to leverage those connections during World War II, the series will expose secret meetings, coded correspondence, and covert diplomacy between London and Berlin,” according to a description of the docuseries provided by KI. “With newly uncovered evidence and expert insight, it reveals how these links were later concealed through buried archives and suppressed records, shining new light on the monarchy’s entanglement with Nazi Germany.”

“Hitler’s Favorite Royals” is being executive produced by award-winning producer and historian Dean Palmer. The docuseries will be created based on Palmer’s 2021 book, Tea with Hitler: The Secret History of the Royal Family and the Third Reich, as well as research with the University of London of new archival materials. KI’s SVP of Acquisitions and Co-production Anke Stoll said the “extensive research and access to new archive materials adds layers of extra color, depth and detail to what we already think we know about the Royal Family’s connections to Hitler and the Nazis.”

“This series rips the lid off one of the monarchy’s darkest secrets – what the Queen’s German cousins did during World War II and their ties to Hitler,” said Palmer.