Several months have passed since the historic moment when an Israeli Premier League soccer game was stopped before the opening whistle and for the first time in the league's history, a game was canceled due to violence.

The incident occurred in September, just hours after the IDF recovered the bodies of six hostages who were murdered by Hamas in Gaza. Hapoel Be'er Sheva hosted Bnei Sakhnin, from the Arab town of Sakhnin in northern Israel. Before the game began, fans of the Sakhnin club grossly disrespected Israel's National Anthem, turning their backs and making crude gestures as it played. Hundreds of Be'er Sheva fans, who had lost many friends in the war, could not remain indifferent to the opposing fans' actions and stormed the pitch looking to clash with the Sakhnin fans.

The Sakhnin team refused to return to play and the Israel Football Association ruled that as punishment, a point would be detracted from Be'er Sheva's goal difference and the game would be ruled a 0:0 tie.

Now, the two teams are set to meet again at Sakhnin's temporary stadium in Akko and there are those who fear a violent reprisal by the Sakhnin fans.

Concerns of a riot come after Be'er Sheva fans shared threats they received on social media from Sakhnin fans in which they were warned not to go to the game in Akko.

To protect the fans, the Be'er Sheva team is considering not selling them the visitors' section tickets allotted to them by the Sakhnin management. Israel Police and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir are also in the picture and have announced that they would deal harshly with any violence - both threats or in practice.