IT’S been announced that Scotland’s upcoming Women’s Euro 2025 qualifier against Israel is to be played behind closed doors.
The fixture on May 31 will be held at an empty Hampden Park due to intelligence about “planned disruptions”.
Likewise, the away tie, scheduled to take place in Hungary on June 4, will also take place behind closed doors.
Here’s what you need to know.
Why does Israel compete in the Euros?
In both men and women’s football, Israel is given the opportunity to qualify for the European Championships.
Football fans will remember that Scotland’s men’s side beat Israel to qualify for Euro 2020.
Israel first started competing in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in 1954 despite significant opposition from some existing members.
A number of Muslim states refused to play against the new national side. This culminated in the bizarre spectacle of the 1958 World Cup qualifying stage for Asia and Africa – where Israel qualified without playing a single match.
However, Fifa arranged a play-off match with Wales, which Israel lost 2-0. After qualifying for the world cup in 1970, Israel began a 20-year period when it was excluded from AFC tournaments from 1974.
It came at a time of increased hostility, in which Israel had been at war with neighbouring countries in both 1967, when it launched a pre-emptive war and captured the Jordan-controlled West Bank, the old city of Jerusalem, the Syrian Golan Heights and the Egyptian Sinai peninsula and in the 1973 Yom Kippur War that saw it defend its occupation of those territories.
A motion initiated by Kuwait during the 1974 Asian Games in which the country refused to play against Israel, saw the country expelled from the AFC.
The country started to play in European tournaments in the early 80s, taking part in the 1982 European World Cup qualifiers, although it then competed in Oceania groups for 1986 and 1990.
Israeli clubs then began taking part in European club competitions in 1991 and its football association became full Uefa members in 1994.
Why has the game gone behind closed doors?
The upcoming qualifier is to be played behind closed doors due to intelligence about “planned disruptions”.
We previously told how the Scottish Greens lodged a motion calling on Israel to be banned from taking part in the qualifiers.
Elsewhere, pro-Palestine campaigner Naomi Junnor said there would likely be protests over Israel’s involvement.
It came following a mass boycott of this year’s Eurovision, in which organisers were accused of hypocrisy given Russia was previously banned from the event.
Has Israel qualified for the Euros?
The men’s European Championship is due to get underway in Germany next month, although Israel will not be competing.
The side did reach the play-off stages of qualifying although lost 4-1 to Iceland.
In the women’s game meanwhile, the Israeli side has been drawn in a group with Scotland, Slovakia and Serbia.
However, they have lost their first two games 2-0 and 4-2 to Slovakia and Serbia respectively.
The first tie with Scotland will take place on May 31.
