Hapoel Beer-Sheva barred from bringing fans to two Europa League away fixtures over security fears

Hapoel Beer-Sheva will face AZ Alkmaar and Union Saint-Gilloise in the Europa League this month without any travelling supporters present, after municipal authorities in both the Netherlands and Belgium cited security concerns over hosting Israeli fans.

AZ Alkmaar announced on Wednesday that local officials had recommended excluding visiting supporters from their 15 October fixture against the Israeli champions. A week later, the match against Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise has been moved out of Leuven entirely after the city’s mayor refused to host it, forcing the 22 October tie to be played behind closed doors to all supporters at Fortuna Düsseldorf’s stadium in Germany.

“AZ respects this decision and follows the instructions of the relevant authorities,” the Dutch club said in a statement. “The safety of supporters, employees, players and other stakeholders is paramount.”

Union Saint-Gilloise acknowledged they had sought a venue closer to Brussels to limit the inconvenience for their own fans, but confirmed that security considerations made that impossible. “Unfortunately, for security reasons, the latter was not possible,” the Belgian champions said. “The match will have to be played behind closed doors.”

The decisions follow violent street clashes in Amsterdam in November 2024, when Ajax hosted Maccabi Tel-Aviv in a Europa League fixture. Maccabi Tel-Aviv supporters were also banned from attending their side’s Europa League match against Aston Villa last season after West Midlands Police classified the game as high risk based on “current intelligence and previous incidents”.

Since October 2023, Israeli clubs and the national team have been required to play home European matches at neutral venues. Away fixtures had largely proceeded as normal until now.

Hapoel Beer-Sheva are currently staging their home matches in Bucharest, Romania. The club narrowly missed out on Champions League qualification in August, conceding a stoppage-time goal away at Azerbaijani side Sabah before losing in extra time, and instead entered the Europa League. They opened their group-stage campaign with a 0-0 draw against Dinamo Zagreb on 16 September.

Their remaining away fixtures in the competition include a trip to Besiktas in Istanbul on 26 November and a visit to Bournemouth on 28 January.