Maccabi Tel Aviv plays soccer game without incident in Hungary after Amsterdam violence

Maccabi Tel Aviv’s soccer game against Turkey’s Besiktas in the Europa League was played without incident before empty stands in Hungary, with the stadium closed to fans over security concerns following attacks on Israeli supporters in Amsterdam this month.

Maccabi won the game 3-1 on a cold and rainy evening in Debrecen, Hungary’s second-largest city. Groups of police patrolled outside the stadium but security levels did not appear overwhelming in the city of around 200,000 residents.

After the match, Maccabi coach Zarko Lazetic says that playing in front of an empty stadium without fans is always a struggle for the team.

“We play football because of the fans, to give them some pleasure, some excite[ment] and to be together,” he says.

Israel’s soccer teams play domestic games at home despite the Israel-Hamas war. But European soccer body UEFA has ruled that the war in Gaza means Israel cannot host international games.

The match was Maccabi’s first in Europe since its fans were targeted and assaulted in the Netherlands on November 7 this year, in attacks that were condemned as antisemitic by authorities in Israel and across Europe.