Maccabi Tel Aviv CEO recounts Amsterdam riots on arrival in Israel

Ben Mansford, CEO of Israel's Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer club whose fans were attacked overnight in Amsterdam, said on Friday (November 8) that all the group's supporters were accounted for and gave details about their ordeal. "We're absolutely devastated.. Thank God we believe that all of our fans are accounted for, we think there's a strong chance that all of them have been released from the hospital," Mansford said from Ben Gurion International Airport, shortly after he landed in Israel. Mansford condemned the violence and recounted some of the riots that took place on Thursday (November 7) after the game. "This was not connected to football.. for them to be running into rivers, to be kicked while defenceless on the floor, to be trying to suggest and beg people to believe that they are not Jewish, that's very very sad times," he said. According to Amsterdam mayor Maccabi fans had been "attacked, abused and pelted with fireworks" around the city, and that riot police intervened to protect them and escort them to hotels. At least five people were treated in hospital. Antisemitic incidents have surged in the Netherlands since Israel launched its assault on Gaza after the attacks on Israel by the Palestinian Hamas group on Oct. 7, 2023, with many Jewish organisations and schools reporting threats and hate mail. Mansford said the Israeli team will continue its training program and attend their next game in Europe as scheduled. "We must kick on from here for the good of the club and everyone in Israel," he said. (Production: Rami Amichay, Michal Yaakov Itzhaki, Avivit Delgoshen)