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.
TITLE CAMPAIGN: The victory sent the Monkeys to the Taiwan Series for the third time in the past four seasons as they seek their first championship since 2019 The stage is set for the Taiwan Series after the Rakuten Monkeys on Monday beat the Uni-President Lions 4-3 in Game 5 of the CPBL Challenger Series in Kaohsiung. The Monkeys, who entered the top of the ninth scoreless, tied the game with a three-run blast by Lin Chih-ping and scored the winning run in the 10th on an RBI single by Lin Li, a three-time batting champion in the CPBL. Both players entered the game as pinch hitters. “The coach told me to stay prepared as a pinch hitter in the later part of the game. My teammates had
Taiwanese badminton ace Chou Tien-chen was crowned the men’s singles champion at the Arctic Open on Sunday, after defeating Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand 21-11, 13-21, 21-19. The 35-year-old Chou, who is ranked world No. 5, and the 24-year-old Vitidsarn, ranked world No. 3, battled it out for one hour and 17 minutes in a grueling three-game match at Energia Areena in Vantaa, Finland. In the first game, Chou took an early 9-7 lead and maintained his momentum, widening the gap, before defeating Vitidsarn 21-11. At the start of the second game, the two players were neck-and-neck. When Vitidsarn pulled ahead
The Ministry of Sports on Wednesday night called for the Chinese Taipei Football Association (CTFA) to address issues in Taiwanese soccer after national manager Huang Che-ming on Tuesday resigned following Taiwan’s elimination in AFC Asian Cup qualifiers. Taiwan on Tuesday were thrashed 6-1 by Thailand in their Group D tie at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Taiwan finished with no points, after losing all four of their matches, eliminating them from qualifying for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup. Huang made his surprise resignation at a post-match news conference, following three losses since he took over the team from English coach Gary White in August. Huang
HIT AND RUN: Toronto manager John Schneider got his wish that his team ‘find some slug in the air out here,’ as the Blue Jays combined to total 611m of homers Tired in Toronto, the Blue Jays slugged in Seattle. Vladimir Guerrero Jr and George Springer on Wednesday woke up the Jays, as Toronto hit five home runs to rebound from an early deficit, routing the Mariners 13-4 and closing to 2-1 in the American League Championship Series (ALCS). Toronto had 18 hits — all within the first three pitches of each at-bat. “If they give us a first pitch, the pitch that we’re looking for, we’re going to attack and we’re going to be aggressive,” Guerrero said. Seattle starter George Kirby gave up eight of the hits. “I wasn’t really executing when they got
RSS