Tommy Robinson played a role in Maccabi Tel Aviv’s decision not to request a ticket allocation for their next match against Aston Villa. The Premier League team has chosen not to sell tickets to Maccabi fans for next month’s Europa League match at Villa Park following police advice for safety reasons, sparking a backlash and accusations of anti-Semitism.
Efforts have been made to find a solution for Maccabi fans to travel to Birmingham to watch their team play, but the presence of right-wing activist Robinson at an event attended by 1,000 people in Tel Aviv on Saturday night heightened fears that the match could be exploited.
Robinson posted a photo of himself wearing a Maccabi Tel Aviv shirt on his X page with the caption: “Who’s coming to support Maccabi Tel Aviv at Villa Park on November 6th???”
Pro-Palestinian Birmingham MP Ayub Khan and the Game Over Israel group had launched a major campaign against the match before the ban on away fans was announced.
West Midlands Police classified the match as ‘high risk’ based on previous incidents and information, including ‘violent clashes and hate crime crimes’ when Maccabi fans attended the game against Ajax in Amsterdam in November 2024.
Despite significant government opposition to the decision, Maccabi issued a statement on Monday saying it would not take on the assignment due to the possibility that groups might seek to take advantage of the unrest. He added, “The health and safety of our fans is our top priority.”
“It is clear that various well-established groups are trying to denigrate Maccabi Tel Aviv’s fan base, most of whom do not have any racist or hooliganist tracks and are exploiting isolated incidents for their own social and political purposes,” the club said in a statement.
“The risk posed by anti-Israel demonstrators was substantial, but we thought we had a plan to stop their spread. But that changed with Tommy Robinson’s intervention,” one source elaborated in a statement to Jewish News.
“There was also the risk that our supporters would be mistakenly associated with his far-right activities in the presence of anti-Israel demonstrators who were already trying to oust them.
“With Robinson supporters potentially posing as Maccabi fans on the streets of Birmingham, we determined that the risk became unacceptable to innocent fans who simply wanted to watch their team play.”
The UK Government has expressed its disapproval of the decision to ban fans and today expressed its deep sadness that the situation cannot be resolved.
A government spokesperson said: “The government has been working around the clock to uphold the fundamental principle that football fans should be able to enjoy matches without fear of intimidation or violence.”
“We are very disappointed that Maccabi Tel Aviv has refused to allocate away fans, but we respect their rights.
“It is completely unacceptable that this game has been weaponized to incite violence and fear by those who seek to divide us. We will never tolerate anti-Semitism and extremism on our streets.”
