Government ‘does everything’ to overturn ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans at Aston Villa match

The government has said it is “doing everything in its power” to overturn the ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans attending a football match in Birmingham and is exploring what additional resources may be needed.

On Thursday, Aston Villa said the City’s Security Advisory Group (SAG) had decided that the Israeli club’s supporters should not be allowed to attend the Europa League match on November 6 due to security concerns.

Facing growing pressure to resolve the situation, the government said it was working with police and exploring what additional resources were needed.

A SAG meeting to discuss the match is planned for next week, the Interior Ministry said.

“No one should be prevented from watching a football match simply because of their identity,” a government spokesperson said.

They added that the government was working with the police and other agencies to ensure the match could “take place safely with all supporters in attendance”.

After his announcement on Thursday, Sir Keir Starmer described the decision to stop supporters from coming as “wrong”, adding “we will not tolerate anti-Semitism on our streets”, while there was also criticism from other party leaders.

The SAG – which advises the council on whether to issue safety certificates – will review the decision if West Midlands Police changes its risk assessment for the match, Birmingham City Council said.

On Thursday, West Midlands Police said they had classified the match as “high risk” based on current intelligence and previous incidents, including “violent clashes and hate crimes” between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv fans ahead of a match in Amsterdam in November 2024.

More than 60 people were arrested over the violence, which city authorities described as a “toxic combination of anti-Semitism, hooliganism and anger” over the war in Gaza, Israel and elsewhere in the Middle East.

The Home Office was informed that restrictions on visiting fans could be imposed last week, but the BBC understands officials were only informed of the final decision on Thursday.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the revelation left Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood with “serious questions to answer” about why her department had “done nothing” to avoid the ban.

She said: “This is a weak government that does not act when necessary. »

A source close to Mahmood told the BBC that “this is categorically false”.

“The first time the Interior Minister learned that fans were banned was last night,” they added.

Ayoub Khan, an independent MP for Birmingham Perry Barr who campaigned on a pro-Gaza platform during last year’s general election, had pushed for the match to be canceled for security reasons and welcomed Thursday’s decision.

Khan told BBC Newsnight “no one should tolerate anti-Semitism”, but added: “We cannot confuse anti-Semitism when we look at what some of these fans have done in Amsterdam in 2024. The vile chants of racism and hatred, the chants that there are no more schools in Gaza because there are no more children in Gaza.”

Andrew Fox, honorary president of the Aston Villa Jewish Villans Supporters’ Club, said he believed Khan’s comments about Amsterdam were “shameful”, calling what happened there a “premeditated Jew-hunt”.