AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS - NOVEMBER 7: Team photo of Maccabi Tel Aviv, Ido Shahar of Maccabi Tel Aviv, Dor Peretz of Maccabi Tel Aviv, Tyrese Asante of Maccabi Tel Aviv, Dor Turgeman of Maccabi Tel Aviv, Issouf Sissokho of Maccabi Tel Aviv, Nemanja Stojic of Maccabi Tel Aviv, Raz Shlomo of Maccabi Tel Aviv, Elad Madmon of Maccabi Tel Aviv, Gavriel Kanichowsky of Maccabi Tel Aviv, Sagiv Jehezkel of Maccabi Tel Aviv, Goalkeeper Roi Mishpati of Maccabi Tel Aviv during the UEFA Europa League 2024/25 League Phase MD4 match between AFC Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv at Johan Cruijff ArenA on November 7, 2024 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Maccabi Tel Aviv game at Besiktas moved to Hungary

Agence France-Presse
2 years ago
BSR Agency / Getty Images Sport / Getty

The Europa League match between Besiktas and Maccabi Tel Aviv has been moved from Istanbul to Debrecen in Hungary, UEFA announced on Monday.

"The match will be played behind closed doors following a decision of the local Hungarian authorities," the governing body of European football said in a statement.

Last Thursday, when Maccabi Tel Aviv visited Ajax in the Europa League, supporters were attacked in Amsterdam, triggering international condemnation. 

Five Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters were briefly hospitalised and around 60 people were arrested, according to the Dutch police.

Four days before those incidents, Besiktas had announced that their match with Tel Aviv, on November 28, would be played "in a neutral country" for security reasons.

The meeting between the two clubs was considered high-risk, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stepping up his verbal attacks on Israeli leaders since the start of the war in Gaza. 

Anti-Israel demonstrations, encouraged by the Turkish government, have been taking place across the country for more than a year. 

Last year, Israel advised its nationals and diplomats in Turkey to leave the country.

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