After 15 years of quiet from Europe’s soccer association UEFA on the matter of Israel’s hosting of European teams in Israel, the current security situation has again caused the association to raise the issue.
In light of the terror attacks on the Temple Mount and the community of Halamish, as well as other terror-related incidents in Israel, UEFA turned to the international soccer federation, FIFA, requesting “guarantees” for European tournament qualifying games hosted in Israel - namely, qualifiers for the European Championship and the Champions League.
UEFA indicated that it does not rule out the possibility of barring Israeli “home games” from taking place in Israel, and having those games instead take place at “neutral” locations outside of Israel. If UEFA indeed chooses to take this step, it would be the first time that Israeli teams would have to play their home games outside of Israel since 2002.
In response, FIFA sent UEFA its requested guarantees, and included the opinions of the various police chiefs for cities where tournament games are to be held: Netanya, Petah Tikvah, and Be’er Sheva.