The prime minister has said blocking fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv from attending a football match in Birmingham is the “wrong decision”.
Aston Villa said on Thursday that the city’s Safety Advisory group – responsible for issuing safety certificates – had advised that fans of the Israeli club would not be permitted to attend the 6 November Europa League match.
West Midlands Police said it supported the decision, saying it had classified the fixture as “high-risk”.
Sir Keir Starmer criticised the move, saying “we will not tolerate antisemitism on our streets” and that the role of police was “to ensure all football fans can enjoy the game, without fear of violence or intimidation”.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch branded the decision a “national disgrace” and suggested Sir Keir should act to reverse it.
She wrote on X that the prime minister should “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.”
West Midlands Police said the decision to prohibit visiting supporters had been based on current intelligence and previous incidents, including “violent clashes and hate crime offences” between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv fans before a match in Amsterdam in November 2024.
More than 60 people were arrested over the violence which city officials described as a “toxic combination of antisemitism, hooliganism, and anger” over the war in Gaza, Israel and elsewhere in the Middle East.
Aston Villa said it was in “continuous dialogue with Maccabi Tel Aviv and the local authorities,” with the safety of supporters and local residents “at the forefront of any decision”.
Football’s European governing body Uefa said it wanted fans to be able to travel and support their team in a “safe, secure and welcoming environment”.
Uefa told Reuters news agency: “In all cases, the competent local authorities remain responsible for decisions related to the safety and security of matches taking place on their territory.”
Chaired by Birmingham City Council’s head of resilience, the Safety Advisory Group is made up of officials from the local authority, emergency responders – including the police – and event organisers.
According to the council website, its role is to offer advice and guidance regarding public health and safety at events, including to “reduce any negative impact”, but it isn’t able to approve or reject them.
A council spokesperson said a meeting had been held with “all relevant partners to assess safety arrangements” for the fixture.
“Following a thorough review, concerns were raised regarding public safety if away fans attend the match, by the police,” they added. “As a result, a collective decision was made to restrict away fan attendance”.
Ayoub Khan, the independent MP for Birmingham Perry Barr who had campaigned for the match to be cancelled, welcomed the decision: “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.”
He told BBC Newsnight the prime minister “should stay out of operational matters” and leave it to local authorities.
Khan added: “Nobody should tolerate antisemitism – we all condemned what happened in Manchester, that was clearly antisemitic” – referring to the deadly synagogue attack earlier this month.
“But we cannot conflate antisemitism when we look at what some of these fans did in Amsterdam in 2024. The vile chants of racism and hatred, the chants that there are no schools left in Gaza because there are no children left in Gaza.”
Andrew Fox, honorary president of Aston Villa’s Jewish Villans supporters’ club, said he thought Khan’s comments on Amsterdam were “shameful”, describing what happened there as a “premeditated Jew hunt”.
He added there are “political aspects” to the decision regarding the game in Birmingham that “go far beyond football”.
“The wider question is why there is a threat of violence,” Mr Fox said. “It’s not just about Maccabi Tel Aviv, it is 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.”
The Jewish Leadership Council said it was “perverse” that Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were blocked from attending the match, and called for it to be played behind closed doors.
“Aston Villa should face the consequences of this decision,” it said on X.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar called the decision “shameful” and urged officials to reverse it.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said it was “a serious mistake,” adding: “You don’t tackle antisemitism by banning its victims. This decision must be reversed.”
Meanwhile, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said the move “takes racial discrimination to a whole new level”.
Baroness Luciana Berger, a former Labour MP who quit the party in 2019 over its handling of antisemitism allegations, before rejoining in 2023, said Birmingham’s ability to host “forthcoming major international events” should be reviewed if the police and council were unable to guarantee safety for a singular football match.
Various sporting events have seen protests over the war in Gaza, including when Israel’s national team played Norway and Italy in recent World Cup qualifiers.
Earlier on Thursday, the prime minister said it was his “responsibility” to address how many in the Jewish community were feeling “insecure and unsafe”, particularly after the attack at a Manchester synagogue in early October that killed two men.
During a visit to the Community Security Trust (CST) – a charity that provides security at Jewish sites such as synagogues and schools – he told Jewish News: “We have heard loud and clear in the last few days and weeks that words are not enough. Action is what matters, and we’re absolutely committed to that.”
