Forfeit the playoffs or defy your religious beliefs.

That’s the position the Israeli women’s lacrosse team could find itself in at the World Cup going on this week in Oshawa.

And if they have to play on Saturday — the Shabbat (Sabbath) as the schedule-makers call for — they will forfeit.

Even if it’s the gold-medal game.

“We all felt the same way,” said attacker Jenna Block. “It was an absolute team consensus we will not play on Shabbat. Competing in the World Cup is very important to all of us, but who we’re representing and who we are comes first and foremost.

“That’s a sacrifice we’re all willing to make. This is about more than lacrosse. It’s about more than a game.”

At 4-0, the Israelis are a bit of Cinderella surprise at the event and face Japan (4-0) on Tuesday.

But the way the schedule is shaping up — and a win by Israel on Wednesday is all it will take — the Israeli team will guarantee itself a spot in the top-8. That means they’ll head toward a playoff game Saturday, the final day of the event that will determine final rankings and the gold medal.

The team asked for a schedule change, offering three alternatives:

Friday, before sundown.

Saturday, after sundown.

Sunday morning.

The Israelis also offered to pay the expenses of any teams out of pocket for the accommodation.

Their request was denied by the Federation of International Lacrosse, which set the schedule.

Stan Cockerton, president of FIL, said the federation had no problem accommodating the Israelis’ request in setting the schedule for round-robin pool play in ensuring no Saturday games.

But he said the playoffs are a different animal, governed by bylaws with a specific timetable for insurance and game times, with 8 p.m. being the latest scheduled start.

“We were able to reschedule (the round robin) so we’re not insensitive to the issue,” said Cockerton. “But for this coming Saturday, we have a set format.

“We cannot accommodate them.”

Israel’s suggested compromises were a no-go because two of them require play after the scheduled end of the tournament and one requires teams to play twice on Friday, a violation of bylaws, potential insurance violations and potentially a health risk for the athletes “especially with the weather we’ve had this week,” said Cockerton.

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He acknowledged it could be an embarrassment to the tournament if the Israelis end up forfeiting the gold medal game.

“It would be,” said Cockerton. “But to change the date, you’re talking about ticket sales, it’s a tough question.”

The Israel Lacrosse Association issued a news release saying it was policy the team not play during Shabbat.

“As a new sport to Israel it is imperative . . . we cannot ignore that reasonably large percentage of our nations’ people, our teams’ players and our associations’ members would be offended if we took the field on Shabbat,” it read.

The Israelis did talk to other teams, who offered no objections to a schedule change to accommodate religious beliefs. They even have the promise of an exhibition game on Friday from teams that would have been their opponent, offering some sort of finality to their event.

“Most of the countries understand and have offered to play an exhibition game to offer some finality,” said Scott Neiss, director of the 25-member Israeli delegation.

These are not the first Jewish athletes to face the dilemma. Neiss said some play, some don’t.

In the women’s lacrosse team’s case, Neiss said the team made the scheduling request in December. Cockerton said the first he heard of the Saturday issue was eight weeks ago.

“We were optimistic the whole time this could be worked out,” said Neiss. “Up until June 30, we were still optimistic we would have a different result.”

Block hopes the FIL will change its mind.

“It’s an unfortunate circumstance,” said Block. “We would love for them to reconsider. We’ll see what happens. If not this go-round, then maybe four years from now they’ll keep that in mind as Israel continues to compete.”

About 25,000 are expected to attend the weeklong World Cup —Canada is a favourite — at Oshawa’s Civic Recreation Complex.

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