Prominent figures including Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmoud and Jewish community leaders have all condemned the decision and called for a review. Matt Shea, a former West Midlands police chief known for his local campaign against hate crime, condemned the decision as “embarrassing” and threatened anti-Semitism campaigners with legal action if the ban continued.
Conversely, the UK Police Service supported the Police and Safety Advisory Group, suggesting that if the government wanted to intervene in football police decisions, the law should be amended. Following top-level consultations between the force and local and national political and community leaders, the Home Office has committed to providing West Midlands Police with “all necessary resources” to enable Israeli fans to attend safely.
Despite considering all “relevant” factors, the Safety Advisory Group upheld its original decision and reiterated its guidance to Villa. A City Council spokesperson confirmed today that a “multi-agency Safety Advisory Group (SAG) met to consider the public safety implications associated with the Aston Villa vs. Maccabi Tel Aviv football match.”
“The partners agreed with the police assessment that this match was a high risk. In order to support public safety and reduce the risk to the lowest possible level, SAG has made choices to minimize the significant impact on public safety, including banning away fans from attending.” This advice has been passed on to Aston Villa FC.Birmingham is a diverse city and we welcome people of all backgrounds and religions, and we take our responsibility to keep our city and its people safe at all times.
However, the British Jewish Parliamentary Committee disagrees with this decision. “The ridiculous decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from watching their team play against Aston Villa risks giving the impression that there is a ‘no-go zone’ in this country,” board chairman Phil Rosenberg said in a statement.
“We are giving Aston Villa and West Midlands Police an opportunity to disprove this harmful concept of ‘no-go’ zones by exploring the possibility of allocating tickets to our communities and demonstrating that this can happen safely. In the end they poured the pass into their own net. It looked like the police were going to make this happen, but Aston Villa probably just bided their time and ran away.”
Mr Rosenberg continued: “The idea that Villa Park, Birmingham, the West Midlands or any part of our country should be a place where people are inhospitable because of their religion or nationality must never be accepted, especially in the wake of the Islamist terrorist attack on our community in Heaton Park a few weeks ago.”
The Prime Minister said the decision to ban supporters from attending was “wrong” and declared: “We will not tolerate ‘anti-Semitism on our streets’.” Asked about the controversy surrounding the ban, West Midlands Chief Constable Craig Guildford said: “I have read some of the information that has been received and the assessment that has been made. It is based on professional judgement.”
The report that influenced this decision has not yet been published, but police intelligence is understood to have determined the greatest risk of violence arising from extremist fans at Israeli clubs. Based largely on information from European police forces, West Midlands police officers recommended to the Safety Advisory Group that banning fans was the appropriate course of action.
This advice is based on several factors, including:
Many radical Maccabi fans with a history of violence and racist chants were expected to attend the Birmingham game, even without tickets. Dutch police have told their British colleagues that Maccabi fans caused trouble in Amsterdam during last year’s match with racist and provocative chants and random attacks on Muslims. This led to retaliatory violence, with attacks on some Dutch Jews and what was later called a “mini-pogrom”. It took a massive effort by Dutch police, involving 5,000 officers over three days, to quell the riot. A community impact assessment by West Midlands Police noted that some Jewish individuals wanted Maccabi fans banned due to potential disturbance and reputational damage. Maccabi fans who attended the Birmingham match could provoke retaliation from local residents, a further obstacle.
According to Birmingham Live, the Safety Advisory Group did not consider whether the ban on Maccabi fans could be considered anti-Semitic. However, they report that the possibility of further protests occurring in and around the ground was also considered.
Intelligence reports indicate the likely presence of pro-Palestinian protests, anti-hate, pro-Israel demonstrations, anti-racism rallies, and the presence of Tommy Robinson and his supporters. Despite the ban on away fans, these protests may still continue.
Earlier this month, the Tel Aviv derby between Maccabi and Hapoel in the Israeli Premier League was called off before kick-off after violent clashes broke out between fans of both clubs and police.
