THE violence against Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters In Amsterdam, some Israelis worry that it is not safe for their sports teams and fans to travel to matches abroad. Many Palestinians want a total ban because of Israel’s conduct of the war against Hamas.

Israeli football teams play domestic matches at home despite the Israel-Hamas war. But the European football body UEFA ruled that the war with Hamas means Israel cannot host international games.

Supporters of Palestinian campaign to ban Israel from international competitions criticize world football body FIFA for failing to comply with its 2022 decision to suspend Russian national teams from competitions days after the invasion of Ukraine. UEFA also excluded Russian teams.

Sports and war

Israeli teams played their home matches in Hungary, Serbia And Cyprus. Viktor, Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán maintains close ties with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and has long made Hungary the safest European country for Jews. He has banned demonstrations in solidarity with the Palestinians, arguing that they pose a security threat.

The Israel national team played all of its home matches in the men’s Nations League this season at the Bozsik Arena in Budapest.

Maccabi Tel Aviv – the only Israeli men’s team to qualify for European football competitions this season – played their home matches in Szombathely, Hungary, and Belgrade, Serbia.

A question about away matches too

Belgium refused to host a men’s Nations League match against Israel in September. This match was played in Hungary, without fans in the stadium. Other away matches went off without incident, but the violence in Amsterdam could be a game-changer, and not just for football.

Israel’s National Security Council urged Israelis not to attend a game against the Maccabi basketball team in Bologna, Italy, on Friday to avoid “externalizing Israeli identifying marks as much as possible.” Jews.” Italian police said security had been increased for the match, both for fans and the Maccabi team.

Even before the Amsterdam attacks, UEFA announced that the Maccabi football team’s next away match in the Europa League, scheduled to take place in Istanbul on November 28 against Besiktas, would take place on a pitch neutral “following a decision by the Turkish government”. authorities.”

The Israeli men’s national football team’s next away match is Thursday in the Nations League, against France at the Stade de France near Paris. French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said Friday the match would go ahead after police assured him they could ensure the safety of fans.

Assaf Nachum, a spokesperson for Israeli soccer club Beitar, said Israeli soccer fans “will need to see a lot of security and police action around where we are going to be staying” in Paris.

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

Threats, taunts and protests as Israelis compete

Israeli athletes participated in the Paris Olympics under tight security. There have been no major security incidents, but some Israeli athletes have said they received threats.

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

Anti-Israel protests have taken place at sporting events across Europe this year, including during Maccabi’s away matches against teams Steaua Bucharest of Romania and Braga of Portugal. Both teams were fined 10,000 euros each for unsportsmanlike behavior after fans waved Palestinian flags.

In September, a group of about 50 Italian fans dressed in black turned their backs in apparent protest during the Israeli national anthem before a Nations League match in Budapest.

In May, a Women’s European Championship qualifying match between Scotland and Israel in Glasgow was delayed after a pro-Palestinian protester. chained himself to the goal post. The protester entered the field even though the match was being played without spectators, due to concerns over disruptive demonstrations linked to the Israeli offensive in Gaza.

Palestinians want to ban Israel from playing international football

Israel’s neighbors in the Middle East participate in Asian competitions. Israel did the same until the 1970s, when it was kicked out of the Asian Football Confederation after several Arab and Muslim countries refused to play against it. Israel was invited to the European qualifiers for the 1982 World Cup and has been a member of UEFA since 1994.

The Palestinian Football Federation has sent several requests to FIFA for Israel to be suspended from international football competitions. In its motion, the federation highlighted “the violations of international law committed by the Israeli occupation of Palestine, particularly in Gaza” and cited FIFA’s statutory commitments on human rights and against discrimination. It also said its football infrastructure – including its iconic Al-Yarmuk stadium – had been destroyed or damaged. FIFA did not suspend Israel in October, but requested a disciplinary investigation into possible discrimination by Israeli officials.

The Palestinian Football Federation has also been calling on FIFA for more than a decade to take action against the Israeli football body for incorporating teams from West Bank settlements into its leagues.

Could Israel be banned like Russia?

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

No European federation has refused to play against national teams or clubs from Israel, a UEFA member for 30 years.

The Israeli men’s team will participate in the draw for the European qualifying groups for the 2026 World Cup, which will take place on December 13 in Zurich. The next World Cup is co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Ukrainian national and club teams have not played international matches on their own territory since the Russian military invasion in February 2022.

___

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

___

AP Football: r