Israeli soccer player Tal Ben Haim, who joined the Queens Park Rangers (QPR) of the English Premier League last week, was targeted by a wave of anti-Semitic abuse on the club’s official Facebook page.
According to a report in The Sun newspaper, one comment asked how the team’s Moroccan Muslim midfielder could “live playing alongside a Jew?”
The messages have since been deleted.
The Sun quoted one QPR supporter as saying on the site: “On Saturday, when Tal came on as sub and it was announced on Facebook, some comments were shocking and had nothing to do with soccer.”
“Many of them are from Indonesia, the greater South East Asia region and the Gulf region,” the supporter said. “I don’t think many of them are QPR fans,” adding that many just sought to provoke racial prejudice and intolerance.
A QPR spokesman issued a statement saying, “We are banning all posters who post anti-Semitic comments.”
Ben Haim plays for Israel’s national team. He has also played for several clubs in the English premier league including Chelsea, Manchester City and Portsmouth.