BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Even before last month’s Hamas attacks in Israel, the leader of Hungary had long promoted his country as the safest in Europe for Jews. Now the Israeli men’s soccer team is taking his word and heading to a tiny Hungarian village as it prepares to play its remaining home games in the Euro 2024 qualifying tournament.
With fears of antisemitic acts on the rise around Europe, concern for the players’ security is top of mind. Now they’ll be in an opulent stadium thought to be the pet project of a well-known soccer fanatic: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán himself.
Israel will host “home” games against Switzerland next Wednesday and Romania three days later as it chases a qualifying place in the continental championship, which would be its first since joining the European soccer confederation UEFA in 1994.
The match against Switzerland had been set for Oct. 12 in Tel Aviv, but UEFA suspended all games in Israel due to security concerns. The match against Romania had been set for Tel Aviv on Nov. 18.
The decision to bring the matches to Felcsut, a village of around 1,900 people where Orbán…
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