Polish president Karol Nawrocki has denounced a “scandalous” banner displayed by a group of Israeli soccer fans at a UEFA Conference League qualifying match on Thursday.

Supporters of Israeli club Maccabi Haifa held a large banner reading “murderers since 1939” close to the front of the stands and across a row of seats during the match against Raków Częstochowa in Debrecen, Hungary – an apparent reference to the Holocaust and the crimes committed by Nazi Germany.

On Friday, European soccer governing body UEFA announced that disciplinary proceedings have been instigated against Maccabi Haifa for “transmitting a message not fit for (a) sports event.”

CNN Sports has contacted Maccabi Haifa for comment.

Germany invaded Poland in 1939, with more than three million Polish Jews and 1.9 m

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