Maccabi Haifa was eliminated from the UEFA Europa Conference League on Thursday night, but not satisfied with the victory, fans in the stadium and members of staff, as well as parts of the security team, harassed the team, according to an N12 report.
Although the game against Italian team ACF Fiorentina was tense, ending in a 5:4 penalty victory for Fiorentina, events immediately following the game are a source of controversy.
⚠️ I giocatori del Maccabi provocano la Curva Fiesole mostrando la bandiera di Israele, scoppia la rissa dopo la partita pic.twitter.com/GNTThxAQOe
— Flavio Ognissanti (@Flavio_Ognissan) March 14, 2024
Following the loss, the team made its way down to the changing rooms, but on the way, they passed by the Fiorentina Ultras, Curva Fiesole, who jeered and cursed at them as well as waved Palestinian flags.
The players became annoyed and confronted the fans, showing Israeli flags from their phones.
Abuse and harassment
Afterward, Maccabi Haifa claimed that they had also received abuse from the security personnel at the stadium, who called the team "terrorists," according to the report.
The insults, in addition to antisemitic curses said by the stadium security personnel, nearly led to an altercation with the Israeli security personnel, who demanded they stop. The situation was only deescalated when players intervened.
Club members told Sport5 that it had actually been the foreign players who stepped in to help deescalate the situation, saying, "Our foreign players, Lorenco Šimić, Abdoulaye Seck, Daniel Sundgren, and Ali Mohamed, who were offended by the attitude against Israelis, defended our players."
Curva Fiesole protested the extra security measures implemented by the police, which included limiting seating (near the field) and enforcing an early entry order.
The fans claimed that the extra security measures would impact attendance due to "fans's work and life commitments," they called for the limitations, which they called "useless", to be removed.
This was not the first incident Maccabi Haifa encountered on their journey through the conference league, with the team having to play Belgian team KAA Gent in an empty stadium due to the possibility of disruption during the game. The issue was so serious that UEFA planned to make KAA Gent forfeit 0-5 if the game was disrupted for more than 30 minutes.