Belgian Mayor Bars Union Saint-Gilloise From Hosting Israeli Club Over Security Concerns

Leuven Mayor Mohamed Ridouani has told Belgian club Union Saint-Gilloise it cannot host Israeli side Hapoel Beer-Sheva in his city for their UEFA Europa League match, forcing the club to scramble for a new venue less than two months before kickoff.

Union is scheduled to host the Israeli champion on October 22, one of four Europa League home fixtures the club planned to play at Den Dreef stadium in Leuven this season. Union's own ground in Brussels doesn't meet UEFA's standards for European competition, according to the Associated Press.

Ridouani announced the decision Monday evening, saying the city will not grant permission "for the sake of public safety," and that his position holds even if the match were played in an empty stadium, according to the AP. He told Belgian broadcaster VRT, as reported by Politico Europe, "I consistently draw the line there. We cannot guarantee safety." He also flatly rejected playing the game behind closed doors.

Ridouani was explicit that the call isn't about Israel or antisemitism. He said it's consistent with his earlier refusal to let Belgium's men's and women's national teams play Israel at Den Dreef, according to both the AP and Politico Europe.

UEFA confirmed Tuesday it had been notified of Leuven's position. "It's the duty of the host club to find an alternative venue," the governing body said, adding that a replacement site "will be known in the coming days."

A Pattern, Not a One-Off

This isn't the first time Belgian officials have kept an Israeli team out on security grounds. Brussels refused to host a 2024 Nations League match between Belgium and Israel over fears of large-scale demonstrations and counter-demonstrations; that game moved to Debrecen, Hungary, and was played without fans, according to Politico Europe and ua.news.

Since the Hamas attacks on Israel in October 2023, UEFA has required all Israeli club and national teams to play their competition "home" games in neutral countries. Hapoel Beer-Sheva already played its Champions League qualifying home games this season in Hungary and Romania. What makes the Leuven decision unusual is that it blocks an Israeli team's away fixture — something the AP notes is rare.

The security concern isn't hypothetical. In November 2024, supporters of Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv were involved in violent clashes across Amsterdam before and after a match against Ajax, resulting in dozens of arrests and several hospitalizations, according to Politico Europe. And when Maccabi visited Birmingham in October 2025 to face Aston Villa, local authorities barred away fans entirely — a call that sparked political controversy in the U.K. even though Maccabi ultimately chose not to send supporters regardless.

The Israeli embassy in Brussels pushed back on the safety rationale, telling Politico Europe it has "full confidence in the Belgian security authorities and their ability to ensure that a football match can take place safely and securely," and offered Israeli assistance if needed.

A mayor is using the threat of disorder, tied explicitly to protests over the Gaza war, to determine which team gets to compete in his city — even proposing a closed-door game wouldn't fix it. Critics of that logic would call it a heckler's veto: letting the loudest potential protesters dictate who plays, rather than policing the protesters. Ridouani's defenders would note Belgian authorities have applied the same standard to Belgium's own national teams, and that Amsterdam's 2024 violence shows the risk is real, not manufactured.

UEFA says a new venue will be announced within days. Union Saint-Gilloise, sitting on a European run after last season's Champions League appearance, now has to find a stadium willing to host a match its own regional capital won't touch, with less than eight weeks before the scheduled kickoff.