The Europa League match between Beşiktaş and Maccabi Tel Aviv has been moved from İstanbul to Debrecen in Hungary, Agence France-Presse reported, citing UEFA on Monday.
“The match will be played behind closed doors following a decision of the local Hungarian authorities,” the governing body of European football said in a statement.
Last Thursday, when Maccabi Tel Aviv visited Ajax in the Europa League, the Israeli club’s supporters were attacked in Amsterdam, triggering international condemnation.
Five Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were briefly hospitalized and around 60 people were arrested, according to the Dutch police.
Beşiktaş had already announced that their match against Maccabi on November 28, would be played “in a neutral country” for security reasons, but said in a statement on Monday that the events in Amsterdam were behind the decision to play behind closed doors.
“In light of the recent incidents that occurred between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters, the match will take place without spectators,” the İstanbul club said.
“We kindly ask our supporters to cancel their travel plans for this match to avoid possible inconveniences.”
The meeting between the two clubs was considered high-risk, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stepping up his verbal attacks on Israeli leaders since the start of the war in Gaza.
Anti-Israel demonstrations, encouraged by the Turkish government, have been taking place across the country for more than a year.
Last year, Israel advised its nationals and diplomats in Turkey to leave the country.