Israel’s football team will face off against Belgium in the Nations League at an undisclosed private venue in Hungary after multiple Belgian cities refuse to host the fixture out of security concerns,
The Jewish Chronicle reports.
The Belgian Football Federation (RBFA) has been looking for a new venue to host the match after Brussels said the game would be “impossible” to host due to security fears. Other Belgian cities also reportedly refused to host the match.
The match will now take place behind closed doors in Debrecen, Hungary on 6 September.
“Given that in Belgium, no local authority considered it possible to organise the home match of the Red Devils against Israel, the RBFA had to look for a solution abroad,” the federation said.
Most of the home games for the Belgian national team will take place at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, with only Israel being forced to play in a separate country.
The news comes as FIFA is currently deliberating a proposal from the Palestinian Football Association to suspend Israel from competing internationally. The football world’s governing body said the issue and its legal considerations would be discussed and shared with its council on August 31, only after the Paris Olympics which runs between July 26 and August 11.
The ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict has sparked demonstrations and heightened security concerns in Belgian cities.
