Israeli Maccabi Tel Aviv fans have been banned from attending an upcoming Aston Villa Europa League game in Birmingham in November.
Birmingham’s Safety Advisory Group – the body responsible for issuing safety certificates for every match at Villa Park – informed Villa that no away fans will be permitted to attend the November 6 fixture in Birmingham. West Midlands Police said they had classified the Aston Villa vs Maccabi Tel-Aviv fixture as 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”.
Violent clashes between pro-Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli fans erupted around the Uefa Europa League football match between Dutch club Ajax and Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv last year. The first incidents were reported the day before the match.
Police say Maccabi fans tore a Palestinian flag down from the facade of a building and burned it, shouted “f**k you, Palestine”, and vandalised a taxi. After a radio callout a number of taxi drivers converged on a casino on the nearby Max Euweplein, where about 400 Israeli supporters had gathered. Police dispersed the taxi drivers and escorted supporters out of the casino.
Israeli Maccabi Tel Aviv fans have been banned from attending an upcoming Aston Villa Europa League game in Birmingham in November. (Photo: ANP/AFP via Getty Images)placeholder image
Israeli Maccabi Tel Aviv fans have been banned from attending an upcoming Aston Villa Europa League game in Birmingham in November. (Photo: ANP/AFP via Getty Images) | ANP/AFP via Getty Images
Verified social media videos show Maccabi fans setting off flares and fireworks and chanting in Hebrew “olé, olé, let the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] win, we will f**k the Arabs”. The Dutch national broadcaster NOS, other local media outlets and Amsterdam city hall officials also reported that fans chanted that there were “no children” left in Gaza.
There were further clashes on the afternoon before the match in the central Dam Square, where a large crowd of Maccabi supporters had gathered. Police said pro-Palestine demonstrators tried to reach the square. Two arrests were made.
Maccabi supporters were filmed chanting anti-Arab slogans on their way to the Johan Cruyff Arena. Police escorted the 2,600 fans to the game and dispersed protesters defying a ban on a pro-Palestinian demonstration outside the stadium.
After the match, which Ajax won 5-0, there were numerous attacks on Maccabi supporters across the city centre. Footage showed masked youths on scooters and ebikes seeking out, chasing down and beating victims – mostly in Maccabi colours – until about 4am.
Witness accounts and screenshots of mobile phone message exchanges suggest some were targeted as Jews, being asked if they were Jewish or to show their passports. False reports circulated that Maccabi supporters had gone missing or been taken hostage. Five people were hospitalised and 20 to 30 slightly injured.
Footage also emerged of Maccabi supporters close to Amsterdam central railway station setting off fireworks, chanting anti-Palestine slogans and taking iron scaffolding tubes and wooden planks from a building site to use as weapons. Other footage showed Maccabi fans running through the streets swinging belts.
A partial state of emergency was declared in Amsterdam and the surrounding area, giving police the right to carry out random stop-and-search operations. Extra police were drafted in, security stepped up at Jewish buildings, and protests banned.
A year later, and Maccabi fans have been barred from attending the Aston Villa Europa League game in November. Ayoub Khan, the Independent MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, said: “I welcome the Safety Advisory Group’s decision to advise that Maccabi Tel Aviv fans will not be permitted to attend Villa Park on November 6.
“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.”
Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar called it a “shameful decision”. He said: “I call on the UK authorities to reverse this coward decision!”
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Baroness Luciana Berger, a former Labour MP who quit the party in 2019 amid its antisemitism scandal before rejoining in 2023, said: “This is a shameful decision. If @WMPolice (West Midlands Police) & Birmingham council can’t guarantee safety for this 1 match then the city’s ability to host forthcoming major international events should be reviewed.”
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said a failure by Sir Keir Starmer to guarantee Jewish fans access to any football stadium in the country would send “a horrendous and shameful message: there are parts of Britain where Jews simply cannot go”. Mrs Badenoch said on X: “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.”
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