Protesters disrupt Israeli women's football match in Malta

A women’s football match between Malta and Israel was disrupted on Wednesday by Palestinian protestors carrying a banner that read "Stop Israeli Apartheid," Malta Today newspaper reported.

The match continued after police dispersed the protestors and arrested one person.

The man, an Italian photographer, was later released after police confirmed that he had Maltese residency.

The match was a football World Cup Tournament qualifier.

The protest was organized by the Network for Palestinian Solidarity and supported by Moviment Graffitti, a Maltese NGO which describes itself as being "active against oppression and exploitation of people, environment and animals; with a vision of freedom and radical democracy."

The NGO said in a statement that "the Palestine Solidarity Network felt compelled to hold such action as it believes that the current situation of systematic terror, segregation and ethnic cleansing being pursued by the Israeli state merits global denunciation."

The NGO said that sport was "one of those areas exposing the condition of systematic oppression" under which Israel was keeping the Palestinians.