The British government on Friday vowed to do everything to allow all fans to attend a match between Aston Villa and Tel Aviv Maccabi after anger at a ban on the Israeli team’s supporters.
Birmingham-based Villa said on Thursday that the club had been informed by the Safety Advisory Group (SAG) — responsible for issuing certificates for matches — that no away fans would be permitted at the UEFA Europa League game on Nov. 6.
“The government is working with policing and other partners to do everything in our power to ensure this game can safely go ahead, with all fans present,” a government spokesperson said.
Photo: AFP
“We are exploring what additional resources and support are required so all fans can attend.”
A British police commissioner asked local officials to review the decision as criticism of the ban mounted, including from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and UEFA.
Starmer, a keen soccer fan, called the move “wrong.”
“We will not tolerate antisemitism on our streets. The role of the police is to ensure all football fans can enjoy the game, without fear of violence or intimidation,” Starmer wrote on X.
UEFA called on the clubs and authorities to “agree on the implementation of appropriate measures necessary to allow” Maccabi fans to attend.
Birmingham has been the scene of huge pro-Palestinian rallies since the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas began.
A new meeting of the SAG committee is expected early this week, and West Midlands police are also due to set out what additional resources might be needed.
A number of left-wing independent and Green politicians in the UK have backed the ban, with some calling for the wider exclusion of Israeli teams from international competitions due to the government’s actions in Gaza.
Villa said on Thursday that West Midlands police had advised the SAG that they had “public safety concerns outside the stadium.”
Police said that they had classified the fixture as “high risk.”
“This decision is based on current intelligence and previous incidents, including violent clashes and hate crime offences that occurred during the 2024 UEFA Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Amsterdam,” a spokesperson for the West Midlands force said.
The match in November last year between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv sparked two days of violent clashes between pro-Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli fans.
Supporters of the Israeli team were assaulted in Amsterdam in hit-and-run attacks after skirmishes in which Maccabi fans chanted anti-Arab songs, vandalized a taxi and pulled down a Palestinian flag.
Maccabi Tel Aviv chief executive Jack Angelides told BBC radio that the team had traveled to other countries where the sentiment is “not so kind towards Israeli teams,” but police “were out in force” and there were no incidents.
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