UEFA changes location for Nations League fixture

With the UEFA European Championships done and dusted, attention will all turn to the next event, which is the Nations League fixture in September. However, one of the games in September has been shifted from the expected venue, moved to a neutral ground and to be played behind closed doors.

The last time Belgium and Israel met was in a Euro 2016 qualifier at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels in October 2015, nearly a decade later they will meet again in the Nations League but not on Belgian soil after the Belgian Football Federation (RBFA) started a search for a new venue.

The City of Brussels was expected to take center stage for the game but they turned down the opportunity due to security concerns. There had been demonstrations in Belgium due to the Israel-Gazer conflict and every other Belgian city have been has rejected the opportunity to hold the fixture for the same reason.

“Given that in Belgium, no local authority considered it possible to organize the home match of the Red Devils against Israel, the RBFA had to look for a solution abroad,” a statement from the federation said. 

Subsequently, the Belgium v Israel tie will now happen on neutral ground as the match will be played behind closed doors in Debrecen, Hungary on 6 September.

The Belgian Football Federation (RBFA) holds most of its national team matches at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, but the last time a fixture was played there, it was abandoned at halftime due to safety concerns.

Belgium was to play Sweden in October in a Euro 2024 qualifier, but a gunman murdered two Swedes before the start of the fixture. The game went ahead but was abandoned at halftime.

Now, the RBFA doesn’t want to risk another potentially violent event before, during, and after their national team fixture, forcing Belgium to play a home fixture away from home. Belgium, Israel, France, and Italy are in the Nations League Group A2.