JERUSALEM: As the roar of the crowd grew louder and hundreds of police kept a careful watch on volatile fans, a young Muslim football player ran onto the field, at once hated and embraced by supporters of the nationalist Beitar Jerusalem club.

Beitar's hardcore fans are furious over the club's decision to recruit two Chechen Muslim players - Gabriel Kadiev and Zaur Sadaev - and they made their feelings known when 19-year-old Kadiev entered the game on Sunday night, screaming their disapproval every time he touched the ball. Other fans cheered him but they were drowned out.

Emotional … Beitar Jerusalem supporters at Sunday's match against Bnei Sakhnin. Some Beitar fans are dismayed and ashamed of fellow supporters. Credit:AP

Until it signed the two players last month, Beitar was the only club in Israel's national league that had never fielded a Muslim or an Arab player. Ultra-nationalist members held up a sign declaring ''Beitar forever pure'' to protest against their arrival.

''My son is in the youth team of Beitar and I feel ashamed,'' said one middle-aged man, who did not want to be named, as the crowd chanted for the resignation of the team's coach and owner on Sunday.