Fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv will not be allowed to attend the Europa League match at Aston Villa on 6 November owing to safety concerns.
West Midlands police said it had classified the 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”.
The police said it believed the measure would “help mitigate risks to public safety” and that it remained “steadfast in our support of all affected communities, and reaffirm our zero-tolerance stance on hate crime in all its forms”.
The move was condemned by the prime minister Keir Starmer who said: “This is the wrong decision. We will not tolerate antisemitism on our streets. The role of the police is to ensure all football fans can enjoy the game, without fear of violence or intimidation.”
The Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch branded the decision a “national disgrace” and urged Starmer to reverse it.
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Villa said the local safety advisory group had instructed the club that “no away fans will be permitted”.
“The club are in continuous dialogue with Maccabi Tel Aviv and the local authorities throughout this ongoing process, with the safety of supporters attending the match and the safety of local residents at the forefront of any decision,” Villa said.
There was significant unrest when Maccabi played Ajax on 7 November. A report by Dutch police into the disorder, which lasted two days, found that Maccabi fans had torn a Palestinian flag down from the facade of a local building and burned it, shouted “Fuck you, Palestine” and vandalised a taxi, among a series of incidents before the fixture. After the match what were described by Amsterdam’s mayor as a series of “hit-and-run” assaults on Maccabi fans led to five people being taken to hospital and a further 20 to 30 being slightly injured. Sixty-two people were arrested, mainly for public order offences.
The Jewish Leadership Council criticised the decision not to allow Maccabi supporters to attend the Villa game, posting on X that it was “perverse that away fans should be banned from a football match because West Midlands police can’t guarantee their safety”.
The group said: “Aston Villa should face the consequences of this decision and the match should be played behind closed doors.”
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign said the match should be cancelled, writing on X: “Israeli football teams shouldn’t play in international tournaments whilst it commits genocide and apartheid.”
The Independent MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, Ayoub Khan, said: “I welcome the Safety Advisory Group’s decision. With so much hostility and uncertainty around the match, it was only right to take drastic measures.”
Ajax were prevented last month from having fans at a Champions League match in Marseille after the French interior ministry banned “anyone claiming to be an Ajax Amsterdam supporter” from travelling between the French border and the southern city. Ajax said they had been informed the decision had been taken “on grounds of public safety and security”. The same week, the prefecture of Naples prevented the selling of tickets to Eintracht Frankfurt fans hoping to travel to their Champions League match against Napoli.
