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 on Saturday 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.

Read full story on sport.timesofmalta.com

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