Israeli teams can’t play international games at home. Now, are Maccabi’s away games at risk?

The violence against fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv in Amsterdam has some Israelis worried that it isn’t safe for their sports teams and fans to travel to games abroad. Many Palestinians want them banned entirely over Israel’s conduct of the war with Hamas.

Israel’s soccer teams play domestic games at home despite the Israel-Hamas war. But European soccer body UEFA has ruled that the war with Hamas means Israel cannot host international games.

Supporters of the Palestinian campaign to ban Israel from international competition have criticized world soccer body FIFA for not matching its 2022 decision to suspend Russian national teams from competitions days after the invasion of Ukraine. UEFA also removed Russian teams.

Sports and war

Israeli teams have been playing their home games in Hungary, Serbia and Cyprus. Hungary Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has close ties with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and has long promoted Hungary as the safest European country for Jews. He has banned Palestinian solidarity protests, arguing they are a safety threat.

Israel’s national team has been playing all of its home matches in the men’s Nations League this season in Bozsik Arena in Budapest.

Maccabi Tel Aviv — the only Israeli men’s team to qualify for European club soccer competitions this season — has been playing its home games in Szombathely, Hungary, and Belgrade, Serbia.

A question about away games, too

Belgium declined to stage a men’s Nations League game against Israel in September. That game was played in Hungary instead, with no fans in the stadium. Other away games have been carried out without incident but the violence in Amsterdam could change things, and not just for soccer.

Israel’s National Security Council urged Israelis not to attend a match Friday with Maccabi’s basketball team in Bologna, Italy, to avoid “externalizing Israeli/Jewish identification marks as much as possible.” Italian police said security was increased for the game, both for fans and for the Maccabi team.

Even before the Amsterdam attacks, UEFA announced that the Maccabi soccer team’s next away match in the Europa League, which was scheduled to take place in Istanbul on Nov. 28 against Besiktas, would be moved to a neutral venue “following a decision by the Turkish authorities.”

The Israeli national team’s next away game in men’s soccer is in the Nations League on Thursday, against France at the Stade de France outside Paris. French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said Friday that the game would go ahead after police assured him they could keep fans safe.

Assaf Nachum, a spokesman for Israel’s Beitar soccer club, said Israeli soccer fans will “need to see a lot of actions of security and police around where we are going to stay” in Paris.

“I imagine it will be harder to convince Israeli fans to come, especially because this happened in Amsterdam,” he said.

Threats, jeers and protests when Israelis compete

Israeli athletes competed in the Paris Olympics under heavy security. There were no major security incidents but some Israeli athletes said they received threats.

The Israeli team was met by jeers in stadiums during the country’s national anthem, and athletes arrived under heavy police escort, including riot police vans.

Anti-Israel protests have occurred at sports events around Europe this year, including at Maccabi soccer’s away games against the teams Steaua Bucharest of Romania and Braga of Portugal. Both teams were fined 10,000 euros ($10,800) each on charges of behavior unfit for sports after fans waved Palestinian flags.

In September, a group of about 50 Italy fans in black turned their backs in apparent protest during Israel’s national anthem before a Nations League match in Budapest.

In May, a women’s European Championship qualifier between Scotland and Israel in Glasgow was delayed after a pro-Palestinian protester chained himself to the goalpost. The protester made it onto the field even though the game was being played without spectators over concerns about disruptive protests over Israel’s offensive in Gaza.

Palestinians want to ban Israel from international soccer

Israel’s neighbors in the Middle East play in Asian competitions. Israel did too until the 1970s, when it was expelled from the Asian Football Confederation after several Arab and Muslim nations refused to play against it. Israel was invited to European qualifying for the 1982 World Cup and has been a member of UEFA since 1994.

The Palestinian soccer federation has sent multiple requests to FIFA for Israel to be suspended from international soccer competitions. In its motion, the federation noted “international law violations committed by the Israeli occupation in Palestine, particularly in Gaza” and cited FIFA statutory commitments on human rights and against discrimination. It also said its soccer infrastructure — including its signature Al-Yarmuk stadium — has been destroyed or damaged. FIFA stopped short of suspending Israel in October but asked for a disciplinary investigation of possible discrimination by Israeli officials.

The Palestinian soccer federation also has consistently asked FIFA for more than a decade to take action against the Israeli soccer body for incorporating teams from West Bank settlements in its leagues.

Could Israel be banned like Russia?

Russia is a pariah in European soccer. Its teams were banned by FIFA ahead of the 2022 World Cup qualifying playoffs because of chaos that could ensue if opponents refused to play Russia. FIFA said the consequences for the World Cup “would be irreparable and chaotic” had Russia advanced to the tournament in Qatar.

No European federation has refused to play the national or clubs teams of Israel, which has been a member of UEFA for 30 years.

Israel’s men’s team will be in the draw for European qualifying groups for the 2026 World Cup, which is made on Dec. 13 in Zurich. The next World Cup is co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Ukraine’s national and club teams have not played international games on its own territory since the Russian military invasion in February 2022.

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Associated Press writers Dusan Stojanovic in Belgrade, Serbia, and Julia Frankel in Jerusalem contributed.

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