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Maccabi Tel Aviv will reject Aston Villa tickets due to safety fears

In a statement on Monday night, the Israeli club said a “toxic atmosphere” had endangered the safety of their fans should they attend.

Birmingham’s Safety Advisory Group (SAG) announced last week away supporters would not be permitted at the match on November 6 due to security concerns, a decision which has been condemned by Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Earlier on Monday, culture secretary Lisa Nandy pledged the government would “find the resources” which would allow Maccabi fans to attend.

But those efforts now appear to be rendered obsolete, with Maccabi effectively enforcing their own self-imposed ban on fans.

A statement explained: "The wellbeing and safety of our fans is paramount and from hard lessons learned, we have taken the decision to decline any allocation offered on behalf of away fans and our decision should be understood in that context.

“We hope that circumstances will change and look forward to being able to play in Birmingham in a sporting environment in the near future.”

The SAG’s decision was supported by West Midlands Police, who classified the fixture as “high-risk” based on current intelligence and previous incidents, including the violent clashes which took place when Maccabi played against Ajax in Amsterdam last year.

Sunday’s Tel Aviv derby between Maccabi and city rivals Hapoel was also postponed after clashes between supporters.

In their statement on Monday, Maccabi insisted their fans were not responsible for the game being called off.

They said: "We believe that football should be about bringing people together not driving them apart.

"Our fans regularly travel all over Europe without incident and to suggest that the reason our fans cannot be allowed to travel is due to their behaviour is an attempt to distort reality.

"We acknowledge the efforts of the UK government and police to ensure both sets of fans can attend the match safely, and are grateful for the messages of support from across the footballing community."

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