Before Besiktas' match against Maccabi Tel Aviv in Hungary, as part of the Europa League, the president of the Turkish football federation believes that Israeli clubs benefit from a double standard compared to Russian clubs.
The Europa League match between Besiktas and Maccabi Tel Aviv will be played at the Nagyerdei Stadion in Debrecen, Hungary (6:45 p.m.). Even before the violence in Amsterdam involving supporters of the Israeli club, the Turkish government had decided, for security reasons, not to organize this meeting initially planned in Istanbul. A situation deplored by the president of the Turkish football federation, who points out the position of the Western community in relation to Israel's military activities in the Middle East.
“Besiktas will play an important match, like a national match. We want football to serve peace and brotherhood, but unfortunately the reason why Besiktas is (in Hungary) is that there are double standards measures in the world”, declared İbrahim Hacıosmanoğlu at the microphone of TRT Sports.
“We are against all forms of war, but the embargo imposed on Russia is not applied to those who bomb children, the sick, the elderly, schools, places of worship and kill people. Their teams still participate in sports competitions around the world. We are with Gaza. I hope that our club will respond on the field and give great joy to the Muslim world,” added the leader, referring to the ban on Russian clubs. competing in European competitions since the invasion Russian military in Ukraine started in February 2022.
In camera
By decision of the Hungarian authorities, this one taken after the events around Ajax-Maccabi, the match is played behind closed doors. The Istanbul club then called on its supporters not to plan a trip “in order to avoid any inconvenience”.
The meeting between Besiktas and Maccabi Tel Aviv was considered high risk, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan having increased verbal attacks against Israeli leaders since the start of the war in Gaza. Frequent anti-Israel protests, authorized and sometimes supported by the Turkish government, have taken place across the country for more than a year. In October 2023, Israel asked its nationals and diplomats in office to leave Turkey as a security measure.
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