Maccabi Tel Aviv will return to European competition on Thursday, facing Turkey’s Besiktas in a Europa League match relocated to Hungary following violent incidents involving its fans in Amsterdam earlier this month. The match, set to take place at Nagyerdei Stadium in Debrecen, the authorities will play the game behind closed doors due to ongoing security concerns following the attacks, which authorities in Israel and Europe have condemned as antisemitic.
This will be Maccabi Tel Aviv’s first match in Europe since the November 7 assaults, which occurred after the team’s game against Ajax in the Netherlands. The violence left five individuals hospitalized and prompted dozens of detentions. The incidents followed a pro-Palestinian protest near the stadium, after which groups of youths on scooters and on foot targeted Israeli fans, attacking them with punches and kicks. Amsterdam’s police chief later described the attacks as having “an antisemitic character.”
In response, Maccabi Tel Aviv head coach Zarko Lazetic emphasized that his team’s focus remained on football, despite the external tensions. “It’s not a question for me what happened outside of the stadium,” Lazetic said at a press conference on Wednesday. “We really try to focus on football.”
Following the violence, Besiktas requested to move their upcoming home game against Maccabi, initially scheduled in Istanbul, to neutral ground due to security concerns. Hungary was the only country willing to host the match, and Hungarian authorities stipulated that the game be played without fans present.
Maccabi Tel Aviv’s press officer, Ofer Ronen-Abels, reiterated that the violence in Amsterdam had no connection to football itself. “The events had nothing to do with football,” he said.
As tensions persist in the region due to the ongoing conflict in Gaza, Hungary has hosted several home matches for Israel’s national football team for security reasons. The Maccabi squad held their final practice in Tel Aviv before departing for Hungary.
The closed-door match marks a somber moment for European football, as the sport grapples with the impact of rising geopolitical tensions on its events. Maccabi Tel Aviv and Besiktas will decide the result of the Europa League match on the pitch on Thursday.
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