Israeli club Maccabi Haifa’s UEFA Champions League qualifier stopped amid fan violence, pro-Palestinian chanting

LONDON: A UEFA Champions League qualifier between Hamrun Spartans of Malta and Maccabi Haifa of Israel in Ta’ Qali had to be stopped on Tuesday after rival supporters clashed amid chants of support for Palestine from the home fans.

Video footage posted to social media by user Andrew Dempsey from the Centenary Stadium purpotedly showed Hamrun fans chanting “Palestina, Palestina” during ugly scenes in the stands.

Apologies for the poor footage - but there's the home fans singing in support of Palestine as I was leaving pic.twitter.com/BXrAEt5iVA

— Andrew Dempsey (@AndrewDempsey98) July 11, 2023

According to witnesses in the stadium, flares had been thrown by the away supporters earlier in the match toward a section of the ground containing families, while home fans threw projectiles back at the Haifa section.

The Israeli side had gone into a 2-0 lead in the First Round Qualifying first leg match in Malta when the referee brought a halt to proceedings in the 55th minute.

There was a lengthy delay as officials and police were involved in calming unrest between the two sets of supporters.

Hamrun Spartans vs Maccabi Haifa, Champions League Qualifiers. Absolutely violent behaviour by Israeli ultras. They even threw flares at Maltese families with kids. Match interrupted. Crazy pic.twitter.com/H00f9d7tIF

— Martin Mazur (@martinmazur) July 11, 2023

The match resumed in the 56th minute before the Israeli champions secured a 4-0 win to take into the second leg in Haifa next week.

Maccabi Haifa is one of the most popular clubs in Israel, especially among Arab citizens of Israel.

Supporters of the club suffered antisemitic abuse from Union Berlin supporters during a Champions League clash in the German capital in 2021,