The Palestine Football Association (PFA) has written a letter to FIFA President Gianni Infantino expressing “grave concern over a disturbing incident of racism and violence within the Israeli football league,” Al Jazeera reports.
The association said there exists “a systemic issue of anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab and Islamophobic racism that has been persistently overlooked by the Israeli Football Association”.
In the letter, the PFA specified an incident that took place on Sunday when supporters of Hapoel Be’er Sheva, an Israeli professional football club, stormed the field with batons, targeting players, staff and fans of Bnei Sakhnin, which represents the Palestinian minority in Israel.
Hapoel Be’er Sheva supporters chanted against the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and called for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, including the burning of their villages and towns.