PAOK fans protest Maccabi Tel Aviv in UEFA Europa League, demand boycott over Israeli war

Hundreds of PAOK football club supporters and demonstrators marched through central Thessaloniki, Greece, on September 24, waving Palestine's flags and chanting slogans against a UEFA Europa League match with "Israel’s" Maccabi Tel Aviv. Protesters held signs reading "Your pitch, your choice. Boycott Israel" and "No to displacement and genocide," denouncing what they called the "legalization of Israeli policies through sport." One demonstrator criticized the inclusion of Israeli teams in European competitions, arguing that "Israel" doesn't "geographically belong to Europe" and that football should remain a game of joy, which cannot be shared "with representatives of a genocide".