A pre-season friendly between Hibernians and Birkirkara was called off after 40 minutes of play on Saturday after clashes between both sets of players, the Times of Malta can confirm.
Birkirkara and Hibernians faced each other at the Tony Bezzina Stadium as both sides were looking to step up their preparations for the upcoming season.
The Stripes took a first-half lead, courtesy of a goal from Maxuell Maia directly from a free-kick.
However, tempers flared five minutes from the break when the match was stopped for a foul on Enrico Pepe. Amid the commotion, Hibernians goalkeeper Ibrahim Kone was shown a straight red card by referee Ezekiel Barbara for violent conduct.
The decision drew the ire of the Hibernians clan with officials storming onto the pitch to protest against the referee and didn’t want to continue the match and demanded that the match be stopped.
Birkirkara will now continue their pre-season preparations with a friendly against Gżira United while Hibernians will face Żebbuġ Rangers this week.
