A photo taken in Gaza was withdrawn from the Deauville Sport Images festival

As part of the 2nd edition of the Deauville Sport Images festival (an outdoor exhibition running from June through September 6, 2026), a photograph by Palestinian photojournalist Jehad Alshrafi, taken for the Associated Press, was displayed in a public space. It depicts a soccer match between the Gaza Sport Club and the Ahli Gaza Club, played on February 14, 2026, on a refurbished synthetic turf field, surrounded by buildings destroyed by Israeli bombing.

In mid-August, the image was removed without notice and replaced with a photo of cyclists. The change was noticed on the evening of August 20 by Sylvain Larcher, secretary of the Côte Fleurie branch of the Socialist Party, who brought the matter to the attention of city hall.

The municipality acknowledged that the photograph was not politically charged and was entirely in line with the exhibition’s purpose: to show that sports endure even in the most dire circumstances. It claims to have faced no pressure and cites a simple “desire to defuse tensions,” specifying that the removal does not call into question either the content or the documentary value of the image. This account is contradicted by pro-Israel activist Mike Krief, who publicly claimed responsibility for the replacement on his Instagram page and expressed satisfaction with it. When questioned by the local media outlet Le Pays d’Auge, the organizers confirmed that the photo had been removed following requests, without specifying their source.

On August 26, Arthur Delaporte, the Socialist Party (PS) representative for Calvados, demanded the immediate reinstatement of the photograph as well as an apology from city hall.