Europa League: Motherwell to play Beer Sheva in Israel despite lockdown

The game is likely to be moved to the Hamoshava Stadium just outside of Tel Aviv

Motherwell's Europa League qualifier against Hapoel Beer Sheva will take place in Israel next week despite the country being in lockdown.

Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's restrictions started on Friday following a spike in Covid-19 cases.

Beer Sheva are due to host the Scottish Premiership club on Thursday in a one-off third qualifying round match.

And BBC Scotland has been told the Israeli FA has given assurances to Uefa the tie will go ahead as planned.

"Uefa has received confirmation from the Football Association of Israel that all Uefa competition matches can go-ahead in Israel as scheduled under the requirements set by the Uefa Return to Play Protocol," a governing body spokesman said.

While the game will take place in Israel, it is scheduled not to be held in Hapoel's Turner Stadium due to work being carried out to the ground.

Instead, it is likely the tie will be played at the Hamoshava Stadium in Petah Tikva, 70 miles north of Beer Sheva on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.

• Crawford completes loan switch from Livingston to Motherwell

Earlier this week the Israeli FA said it did "not expect a problem" fulfilling its European Championship play-off next month for a similar reason.

Steve Clarke's side are due to host Israel at Hampden on 8 October, with the visiting nation's government lockdown not lifting until after the fixture.

Motherwell reached the third round after a nerve-jangling penalty shooutout win away to Coleraine on Thursday, while the Israelis came from behind to defeat Laci of Albania.