EUROPE’S football governing body has officially ruled that the Euro 2024 qualifying match between Belgium and Sweden in Brussels last week was abandoned, with the half-time score standing as the final result.
The match was suspended at half-time as the players of both teams refused to come out after the break following the fatal shooting of two fans in Sweden shirts in what police said was a suspected terrorist attack.
“With regard to the European Qualifier match between Belgium and Sweden abandoned at half-time upon request and agreement of the two teams, following the terrorist attack that killed two Swedish supporters in Brussels on 16 October, the UEFA Executive Committee decided today that the match is abandoned and the result at the half-time interval (1-1) is confirmed as final,” UEFA said in a statement today.
“Each team is awarded one point with the Group F standings to be updated accordingly. Any suspension is considered served and single yellow cards remain valid.”
UEFA added that the decision was taken because the football associations of both countries were not willing to conclude the match the following day.
Also, the result has had no impact on the fate of both sides as Belgium already qualified and Sweden had already been eliminated, with Austria taking the second ticket in the group.
In another decision announced today, UEFA declared that matches will not be played in Israel until further notice due to the bloody conflict between the country and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Thousands of lives have been lost in both Israel and Palestine, especially Gaza, since Hamas launched a surprise raid into Israel last week which claimed hundreds of innocent lives.
With the conflict ongoing, UEFA decided to move games away from Israel for the time being.
“After a thorough evaluation of the current safety and security situation in the whole territory of Israel, the UEFA Executive Committee decided that no UEFA competition matches shall be played in Israel until further notice,” the body announced today.
“The Israel Football Association and its clubs Maccabi Haifa FC and Maccabi Tel-Aviv have been requested to propose alternative venues/stadiums (which must comply with all applicable UEFA regulations) outside the territory of Israel for their home matches to be used for as long as this decision remains in force.”
UEFA has also postponed the Europa League fixture between Villarreal and Maccabi Haifa from October 26 to December 6.
In addition, the Europa Conference League match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Zorya Luhansk has been shifted from October 26 to November 25, while Maccabi Haifa Youth have withdrawn from the UEFA Youth League.
