Being the world’s most followed and popular sport, soccer, especially in Europe, always continues. Due to political circumstances, the game and its competitions have affected many fans, teams, leagues, and entire countries. As war rages on between Ukraine and Russia, and in Israel and Palestine, the “World’s Game” has continued abroad. As war continues in Ukraine, the Ukraine Premier League has continued its matches. The 2021-22 season was cut short in late February of 2022, due to the unprecedented war. However, since then, the league has continued all of its games without fans. Some teams travel up to 600 miles to get to away games with no fans, through deadly war zones, and uncertainty of games being played. The case has been a little different for Ukraine’s most prominent team, Shakhtar Donetsk. The most successful team in Ukraine qualified for the UEFA Champions League, a 32-team tournament of Europe’s best teams. Shakhtar has played in this tournament for the past 3 years.
For the past two years, they have played their “home” games in either the Stadion Wojska Polskiego in Warsaw, Poland, or at Volksparkstadion in Hamburg, Germany. Despite this, on Nov. 7, the club saw one of their biggest wins in club history, by beating FC Barcelona in Hamburg 1-0. Israel has seen a similar situation. Obviously, the circumstances in the area haven’t lasted as long, however, the situation shows parallels. The Ligat HaAl, the Israel Premier League has played all their normal matches in home stadiums, without fans. The case is the same for the two teams playing in European competitions. Maccabi Haifa, competing in the Europa League, are playing their games at the AEK Arena in Larnaca, Cyprus. Maccabi Tel Aviv is playing at the TSC Arena in Backa Topola, Serbia. These changes were made as of Nov. 9, as play in Israel was halted between Oct. 8, and will resume on Nov. 25.
International teams have relocated for their home games likewise. Ukraine has played in multiple locations, in Krakow and Lodz, Poland; Praha, Czechia, and Trvana, Slovakia. The Israeli team recently moved to Felcsút, Hungary. Additionally, Palestine has moved home games to Kuwait. War situations and harsh political climates have made games tough to be played out, however, great efforts made by each country’s federations have let the game continue peacefully.
