West Midlands police commissioner calls for review of whether Maccabi fan ban ‘reasonable and proportionate’
Simon Foster, the Labour West Midlands police and crime commissioner, has called for a review of the ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans attending the match.
In a lengthy statement, he says:
I have today requested, Birmingham City Council Safety Advisory Group (‘SAG’) and West Midlands Police (‘WMP’), convene a Special SAG, at the earliest possible opportunity and conduct an immediate review of the decision, to prohibit the attendance of away fans at the football match, between Aston Villa FC v Maccabi Tel Aviv FC, on Thursday 6 November.
The purpose of my request for a review, is to enable the SAG and WMP to determine, whether or not this decision and recommendation is appropriate, necessary, justified, reasonable and a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. That must include consideration, of all and any suitable, alternative options.
Foster says he wants an assurance that the decision is “appropriate, necessary, justified, reasonable and proportionate” and that an alternative solution is not possible.
But he also says that ultimately this is a matter for the council’s SAG and the operational judgment of the police.
And he says “the safety and security of all the people and communities of the West Midlands, including visitors to the West Midlands,” is his top priority.
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I have updated the post at 9.31am to remove the comment saying Femke Halsema, mayor of Amsterdam, described the attacks on Maccabi supporters at the Europa League match in the city last November as reviving memories of “pogroms” because she later withdrew that comment, saying it had been exploited as propaganda.
Green party calls for all Israeli teams to be banned from international competitions because of events in Gaza
The Green party has issued a statement on the Maccabi Tel Aviv fan ban, in a comment from its co-deputy leader, Mothin Ali, a Leeds councillor.
He has criticised Keir Starmer for trying to over-rule an operatational decision taken by the police. Ali said:
Everyone should be able to feel safe when they attend a football match, that’s non-negotiable. It’s irresponsible for Keir Starmer to question a safety decision of a local authority, especially when he is responsible for their chronic underfunding.
Ali went on to implicitly defend the plan, but he also went much further – saying all Israeli teams should be banned from international competitions because of what is happening in Gaza. He said:
Under normal circumstances, supporters from across the fanbase should be allowed to attend and provision taken to ban violent elements such as The Ultras. But these are not normal circumstances: these games are taking place in the context of thousands of civilians being killed in Gaza, the illegal occupation of Palestinian land, and the upholding of a system of apartheid.
This raises serious moral questions for the UK, UEFA, and the wider football community. We need a sporting and cultural boycott of all Israeli teams, like we saw for South African teams under apartheid. International sporting bodies can and must take a stand when basic human rights are being violated.
Football should be a force for peace and justice, not a tool to sportwash atrocities.
Zarah Sultana, the former Labour MP who is now a member of the Independent Alliance in parliament, alongside Ayoub Khan and four others, has also defended the Maccabi ban on the grounds that Israeli teams should not be competing in international sport. She says:
Next UEFA must ban all Israeli teams.
We cannot have normalisation with genocide and apartheid.
Apartheid South Africa was banned from the Olympics for 32 years.
The same people who called Nelson Mandela a “terrorist” now say we can’t boycott apartheid Israel.
They were on the wrong side of history then — and they’re on the wrong side of history now.
You don’t have “normal relations” with genocide and apartheid.
Boycott, divestment and sanctions until Palestine is free.
In an interview with Newsnight last night, Ayoub Khan, MP for Birmingham Perry Barr who has welcomed the ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans attending the match (and who campaigned get the whole event cancelled, or at least relocated or held behind closed doors – see 8.46am), claimed that Maccabi supporters were “violent fans”, on the basis of what happened in Amsterdam last year. But he said safety was only one reason why he did not want them in the city.
There are two distinct issues. One is the safety aspect … If the police in West Midlands find it challenging because they simply do not have the resources to ensure safety, then that’s one aspect.
The second aspect is a moral argument that Maccabi Tel Aviv should not even be playing in this international competition.
Khan said, given Russian teams are banned from competing in international sport because of the attack on Ukraine, a similar rule should apply to Israeli teams because a UN commission has found that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza.
Where have other fans being banned from travelling to attend matches?
Paul MacInnes
Paul MacInnes is a Guardian reporter.
The decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from the fixture at Villa Park comes amidst a growing number of interventions across European football to prevent supporters from travelling.
Already this season supporters of Dutch side Ajax and the German club Eintracht Frankfurt have been told not to travel to Marseille and Naples respectively after local officials intervened on grounds of safety.
Last season, in January of this year, police arrested 17 Dutch fans at the border after the French interior ministry banned Feyenoord fans from travelling to their Champions League tie in Lille.
Uefa, the governing body of European football, does not involve itself in security decisions taken with relation to individual fixtures. “The competent local authorities remain responsible for decisions related to the safety and security of matches taking place on their territory”, A Uefa statement said.
Uefa does, however, regularly hand out sanctions for breaches of their own rules related to disorder that would prevent away fans from travelling.
In the past year Ferencvaros, Levski Sofia, FSV Mainz, Brondby, Malmo, Raków Częstochowa and Glasgow Rangers are amongst the clubs to have received such punishments, often for the deployment of fireworks at matches. In each of these punishments, however, the sanction was suspended for a period of two years.
Freed British-Israeli hostage Emily Damari says Maccabi ban shows ‘blatant antisemitism has become norm’
Emily Damari, the British-Israeli woman who was held hostage by Hamas for more than 15 months after the 7 October massacre and released in January, has issued a statement strongly condemning the ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans attending the Europa League match. She says, as a Maccabi fan, she is personally affected.
She says:
I am shocked to my core with this outrageous decision to ban me, my family and my friends from attending an Aston Villa game in the UK.
Football is a way of bringing people together irrespective of their faith, colour or religion and this disgusting decision does the exact opposite.
Shame on you. I hope you come to your senses and reconsider.
do wonder what exactly has become of UK society. This is like putting a big sign on the outside of a stadium saying: “No Jews allowed.”
What has become of the UK where blatant antisemitism has become the norm? What a sad world we are living in.
West Midlands police commissioner calls for review of whether Maccabi fan ban ‘reasonable and proportionate’
Simon Foster, the Labour West Midlands police and crime commissioner, has called for a review of the ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans attending the match.
In a lengthy statement, he says:
I have today requested, Birmingham City Council Safety Advisory Group (‘SAG’) and West Midlands Police (‘WMP’), convene a Special SAG, at the earliest possible opportunity and conduct an immediate review of the decision, to prohibit the attendance of away fans at the football match, between Aston Villa FC v Maccabi Tel Aviv FC, on Thursday 6 November.
The purpose of my request for a review, is to enable the SAG and WMP to determine, whether or not this decision and recommendation is appropriate, necessary, justified, reasonable and a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. That must include consideration, of all and any suitable, alternative options.
Foster says he wants an assurance that the decision is “appropriate, necessary, justified, reasonable and proportionate” and that an alternative solution is not possible.
But he also says that ultimately this is a matter for the council’s SAG and the operational judgment of the police.
And he says “the safety and security of all the people and communities of the West Midlands, including visitors to the West Midlands,” is his top priority.
How West Midlands police defends its support for ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans attending match
Here is the full statement from West Midlands police explaining why it wants Maccabi Tel Aviv fans to be banned from attending the Europa League match.
West Midlands Police has a strong track record of successfully policing football matches and other high-risk public events.
We are committed to delivering fair and impartial policing, while balancing the public’s right to protest with our duty to ensure public safety.
Following a thorough assessment, we have classified the upcoming Aston Villa vs Maccabi Tel-Aviv fixture as high risk.
We have actively engaged with a wide range of local partners and community representatives in preparation for this fixture, and continue to participate in the Safety Advisory Group.
While the Safety Certificate is issued by Birmingham City Council, West Midlands Police supports the decision to prohibit away supporters from attending.
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.
Based on our professional judgement, we believe this measure will help mitigate risks to public safety.
We remain steadfast in our support all affected communities, and reaffirm our zero-tolerance stance on hate crime in all its forms.
Israeli foreign minister calls match ban for Maccabi Tel Aviv fans ‘shameful’
Gideon Sa’ar, the Israeli foreign minister, has described the decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from the Europa League match in Birmingham as “shameful” and urged the UK authorities to reverse it.
‘People ask, what does antisemitism look like?’ – Maccabi chief executive says match ban sends worrying message about UK
Jack Angelides, chief executive of Maccabi Tel Aviv, told the Today programme that he would have expected more than 1,000 fans to attend the Europa League match in Birmingham.
He said he felt some “dismay” about the decision the ban on his team’s supporters attending. He explained:
I do think this is an extremely important moment because of what it signifies.
I don’t use this term lightly but people ask ‘what does antisemitism look like?’ And it’s often manifested as part of a process, a process, in other words, small events leading up to something that’s more sinister.
Angelides also said there are fans of the club living in Britain, “and they’re being told that in their own country it is not safe for them to come to watch a football match”.
He said that the team had played matches in countries like Turkey, where there is a lot of anti-Israeli sentiment, where the police could ensure there were no problem. “So I do find it somewhat difficult why this has come to pass” he said.
[This] also begs the question a little bit to be honest – well, there is a delegation coming of management, of players, and all the supporting staff, are we saying that they will be secure also or that there are issues with them?
Asked if he felt they would be secure, Angelides said he trusted the authorities and has not heard anything suggestion they would be at risk.
Andrew Fox, honorary president of Aston Villa’s Jewish Villans supporters’ club, told the Today programme this morning that the decision to stop Maccabi Tel Aviv fans attending the Europa League match in Birmingham sent a “really worrying message” about British society.
He said:
It’s obviously about much wider issues surrounding the Gaza war, and that sends a really worrying message about British society – that we aren’t civilised enough to have a debate over this without it descending into football violence or violent attacks on fans who are coming from another country just because we disagree with that country’s policies. It just makes a very febrile political situation worse I think.
He also dismissed suggestions that Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were likely to engage in violence.
There’s no evidence of Maccabi’s fans being particularly violent. They don’t have a track record in all of their previous European games of having a violent fan group. So really this is a political message rather than a safety message.
The police have cited what happened when Maccabi fans attended a Europa League match in Amsterdam in November last year as being one reason why they should not attend the Birmingham match. The rioting that took place around the Amsterdam match included attacks on the Israeli fans. But the Maccabi supporters were also accused of provocative behaviour, such as pulling down a Palestinian flag and chanting “we will fuck the Arabs”. This is what Jon Henley wrote at the time explaining what happened.
UPDATE: I have updated this post to remove the comment saying Femke Halsema, mayor of Amsterdam, described the attacks on Maccabi supporters as reviving memories of “pogroms” because she later withdrew that comment, saying it had been exploited as propaganda.
Ministers to explore reversing ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans attending UK match after PM’s criticism
Good morning. Yesterday it emerged that fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv will not be allowed to attend the Europa League match at Aston Villa on 6 November owing to safety concerns. The decision was taken by Birmingham’s safety advisory group, based on advice from the West Midlands police, who said the match would be “high risk” 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”. There is more on the announcement here.
The decision prompted widespread condemnation from political leaders. Keir Starmer said:
This is the wrong decision.
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.
Kemi Badenoch went further, saying:
This is a national disgrace.
How have things come to this?
Starmer pledged that Jews are welcome and safe in Britain. That he stands shoulder to shoulder with the Jewish community and will use the full force of his government to prove it.
Will he back those words with action and guarantee that Jewish fans can walk into any football stadium in this country?
If not, it sends a horrendous and shameful message: there are parts of Britain where Jews simply cannot go.
And Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, said:
A serious mistake by WM Police. You don’t tackle antisemitism by banning its victims. This decision must be reversed.
And Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, said: “This takes racial discrimination to a whole new level.”
But the decision has been welcomed by Ayoub Khan, the MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, the constituency where the match will take place. He organised a petition calling for the match to be either cancelled, relocated or held behind closed doors and last night he put out a statement saying:
From the moment that the match was announced, it was clear that there were latent safety risks that even our capable security and police authorities would not be able to fully manage.
With so much hostility and uncertainty around the match, it was only right to take drastic measures.
Khan is one of the five independent MPs elected at the last election wholly or partly because of their outright opposition to Israel’s war in Gaza and his petition suggests that his opposition to the match going ahead is motivated as much by the desire to make a political point about Israel’s conduct as by concerns about the risk of violence. The petition cites three reasons why the match should not go ahead. One is the “track record of violence by Maccabi Tel Aviv fans”, but the others are the “ongoing genocide in Gaza” and the “wider European context”. The petition says:
As Israel continues its assault on Gaza, killing thousands and devastating civilian infrastructure, sporting fixtures involving Israeli teams cannot be separated from the wider political context. Hosting such teams sends a message of normalisation and indifference to mass atrocities.
The petition has been signed by Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader, who is another of the independent MPs in the Independent Alliance. Another MP in that group, Iqbal Mohamed, has welcomed the decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans on claiming the police have “put the safety of Aston Villa fans, Birmingham residents and the British public above the zionist and political pressure to let Israeli hooligans and terrorists run riot in our country”.
Will the decision stand? Perhaps not. This morning Ian Murray, the culture secretary, said ministers will be trying to see if there is a way of ensuring that Maccabi Tel Aviv fans can attend the match. He told Sky News:
[The decision is] just completely and utterly unacceptable, and the prime minister has said we will do everything we possibly can to resolve this issue.
It’s an operational issue for the police, and government doesn’t get involved in operational issues for the police.
But I know the culture secretary [Lisa Nandy] will be meeting with the Home Office and other stakeholders today to try and see if there’s a way through this.
I will post more on this shortly.
The Commons is not sitting today, but here are the things we are expecting.
9.30am: The ONS publishes figures for drug-related deaths in England and Wales.
9.35am: Ofsted chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver speaks at the Confederation of School Trusts annual conference.
Morning: Kemi Badenoch is on a visit in London.
Morning: Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, is on a visit in Wokingham.
Morning: Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, is making an announcement about air quality.
11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.
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