VALLETTA: Maccabi Haifa’s Champions League qualifying match against Hamrun Spartans of Malta had to be halted for 30 minutes on Tuesday because of clashes between fans after Maltese supporters chanted “Palestine, Palestine”.

Tensions rose as Maccabi supporters launched flares onto the pitch in the Centenary Stadium in Ta’ Qali in Malta in response to the Maltese supporters’ chants.

Five Israeli supporters were arrested, according to The Times of Israel, with Malta Today reporting that two were to be formally charged on Wednesday.

Some fans searched by police on entry to the stadium were found to be smuggling flares in their underwear, Maltese police said in a statement.

Despite the searches, others managed to get the flares past the police. UEFA said it was “still gathering the official reports from this match”.

Maccabi won the match 4-0. The second leg is scheduled for July 18 in Israel.

Elsewhere, Bulgarian cha­m­pions Ludogorets Raz­grad suffered a 2-0 defeat away to Kosovo’s KF Ball­kani and BATE Bori­sov, the only Belarusian team to have reached the group stage of Europe’s premier club competition, drew 1-1 with Albanian side Partizani Tirana.

Hungary’s Ferencvaros, who reached the last 16 of the Europa League last season, drew 0-0 with KI Klaksvík of Faroe Islands while Gibraltar’s Lincoln Red Imps conceded in the final seconds to lost to Azerbaijan’s Qarabag.

Iceland’s Breidablik moved a step closer to a second qualifying round tie with FC Copenhagen after they won 1-0 away to Shamrock Rovers in Ireland and Polish champions Rakow Czestochowa grabbed a 1-0 win at home to Estonia’s Flora Talinn

Teams that lose in the first qualifying round of the Champions League drop into the preliminaries for the third tier Conference League.

Published in Dawn, July 13th, 2023