Mick Hartley

From the JC:

Israel’s football team will face off against Belgium in the Nations League at an undisclosed private venue in Hungary after multiple Belgian cities refuse to host the fixture out of security concerns.

The Belgian Football Federation (RBFA) has been looking for a new venue to host the match after Brussels said the game would be “impossible” to host due to security fears. Other Belgian cities also reportedly refused to host the match.

The match will now take place behind closed doors in Debrecen, Hungary on 6 September.

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

Most of the home games for the Belgian national team will take place at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, with only Israel being forced to play in a separate country.

The news comes as FIFA is currently deliberating a proposal from the Palestinian Football Association to suspend Israel from competing internationally. The football world’s governing body said the issue and its legal considerations would be discussed and shared with its council on August 31, only after the Paris Olympics which runs between July 26 and August 11.

I can make a fair guess how that will pan out. The last World Cup – with FIFA officials treated, let's say, generously by the hosts – ended up after all in Qatar.

Meanwhile:

Israel is sending armed Shin Bet agents to Paris to prepare for the largest-ever security operation for Israeli athletes at the Olympic Games.

Israeli Olympians taking part in the world’s foremost sports competition have been receiving death threats online over the last few days, according to Israeli media….

Israeli broadcaster Walla reported over the weekend that Israeli athletes have received threatening online messages written in poor Hebrew. As many as 15 athletes and their teams reportedly received identical death threats via email, warning them they would be killed if they arrived in France.

The anonymous email threatened to repeat the atrocities of the Munich Massacre during the 1972 Summer Olympics, promising harm to “any Israeli presence at the Olympics.”

The Munich Massacre saw 11 Israeli athletes and coaches murdered by 8 individuals belonging to the Palestinian militant group Black September.