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Israel had said it would recognize the Nationals’ Haudenosaunee passports ahead of this year’s world championship, but the players were unable to board their direct flight from Toronto to Tel Aviv on Monday when their airline, El Al, withheld their boarding passes at the behest of Israeli tourism officials, according to Jim Scherr, the CEO of the Federation of International Lacrosse. Ansley Jemison, the Nationals’ executive director, attributed the delay on Tuesday to a mix-up between Israeli and Canadian authorities and said he was optimistic the team would soon be allowed to proceed to Israel.

Once there, they will enter the tournament as one of the favourites to land on the medal podium.

Taking myself away from the game that’s given me so much ... I don’t think is the right decision for us as Haudenosaunee people Lyle Thompson

After their confinement to the sidelines in 2010, the Nationals finished third at the 2014 world championship in Colorado, clinching the first bronze medal in the team’s history at the tournament with a 16-5 win over Australia. Thompson, who scored twice and added two assists in that game, said the moment, though historic, didn’t strike the players as a huge accomplishment. Their objective in Israel is to unseat Canada and the U.S., the teams that have met in the last five gold-medal games — along, Jemison said, with promoting “a message of peace” and proudly representing the indigenous communities of the world.

One reason the Nationals aren’t heeding the Palestinian call to boycott the championship is practical: if they were to withdraw, Thompson said, they could be fined $500,000 and face the prospect of exclusion from future tournaments, including lacrosse’s potential return to the Summer Olympics sometime next decade. Another is personal: the game is deeply important to the Iroquois people, Thompson and his family among them. Three of his brothers, Jeremy, Jerome and Miles, and a cousin, Ty, are also on the Nationals’ roster. They and their teammates are “the Michael Jordan of their time,” Jemison said — college graduates and successful pros who can be positive role models for Iroquois youth, who might help inspire those kids to eat well, to exercise and to grow their hair long enough to braid.