Protests and heavy security as Maccabi Tel Aviv faces PAOK in Greece | iNFOnews.ca
Riot police stand outside Toumba stadium ahead of a Europa League soccer match between PAOK and Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv in the port city of Thessaloniki, northern Greece, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)

Protests and heavy security as Maccabi Tel Aviv faces PAOK in Greece

THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — Police conducted a large-scale security operation outside the stadium Wednesday ahead of Israeli team’ Maccabi Tel Aviv’s game against Greek club PAOK in the Europa League.

Two small protests took place earlier in Thessaloniki in northern Greece, calling for Israeli clubs to be expelled from European competition in response to mass casualties in the war in Gaza.

Around 120 Israeli fans traveled to Greece for the match and were held behind a police cordon before entering the 28,000-seat Toumba Stadium. Officers from a special forces unit escorted the Maccabi team bus to the venue, while bomb squad sniffer dogs inspected the site.

Earlier, protesters climbed scaffolding on a building complex that also houses the U.S. consulate and unfurled a banner reading “Genocide” in English from the side of the building.

Police detained several protesters at the scene. ___

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Protests and heavy security as Maccabi Tel Aviv faces PAOK in Greece | iNFOnews.ca
A bus with the Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv arrives to Toumba stadium ahead of a Europa League soccer match against PAOK in the port city of Thessaloniki, northern Greece, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)
Protests and heavy security as Maccabi Tel Aviv faces PAOK in Greece | iNFOnews.ca
Pro-Palestinian protesters, most of them PAOK fans, hold a banner that reads “PAOK is the child of refugees. No to displacement and genocide” as they gather ahead of a Europa League soccer match between PAOK and Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv in the port city of Thessaloniki, northern Greece, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)
Protests and heavy security as Maccabi Tel Aviv faces PAOK in Greece | iNFOnews.ca
Israeli fans wait to enter Toumba stadium ahead of a Europa League soccer match between PAOK and Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv in the port city of Thessaloniki, northern Greece, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)
Protests and heavy security as Maccabi Tel Aviv faces PAOK in Greece | iNFOnews.ca
Pro-Palestinian protesters, most of them PAOK fans, gather ahead of a Europa League soccer match between PAOK and Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv in the port city of Thessaloniki, northern Greece, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)

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