Maccabi Haifa win Israeli Premier League

JERUSALEM, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Maccabi Haifa won the Israeli Premier League title on Monday, despite the team's away match against Bnei Sakhnin in the penultimate round being postponed.

The title was decided after second-placed Hapoel Beer Sheva only drew 1-1 away at Maccabi Tel Aviv to reached 67 points, compared to Haifa's 72 points.

This is Maccabi Haifa's 14th championship title and their second in a row, which secured the team a spot in the UEFA Champions League qualifiers next season.

Sakhnin were supposed to host Maccabi Haifa in the city of Petah Tikva in central Israel instead of their home turf because of a punishment imposed for crowd trouble.

However, Sakhnin did not meet security requirements for the match, and therefore Israeli police shut down the stadium in Petah Tikva.

After winning this season's league and Toto Cup, Maccabi Haifa will try to complete a treble on May 24, when they play against Beer Sheva in the State Cup final at Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem. ■