UK police face pressure to reverse ban on Israeli soccer fans at Birmingham match

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LONDON (AP) — Pressure mounted Friday on police authorities in the English city of Birmingham to reverse a ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer fans attending a Europa League game at Aston Villa next month over security concerns, a decision that drew widespread condemnation.

Behind the scenes, the government was seeking to resolve the row, which comes at a time of heightened worries about antisemitism in Britain following a deadly attack on a Manchester synagogue earlier this month and calls from Palestinians and their supporters for a sports boycott of Israel over its conduct of the war against Hamas in Gaza.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the police recommendation to bar the visiting team’s fans from the Nov. 6 game was “the wrong decision” and that “the role of the police is to ensure all football fans can enjoy the game, without fear of violence or intimidation.”

Starmer spokesman Geraint Ellis said Friday that “the prime minister has been angered by the decision” and the government was working urgently to overturn it.

Simon Foster, the elected official in Birmingham responsible for overseeing the local police force and holding it to account, also urged an “immediate review,” while local Mayor Richard Parker called on authorities to find “a workable solution” that may involve the government covering some policing costs.

Premier League team Aston Villa said Thursday that police had informed the club that “they have public safety concerns outside the stadium bowl and the ability to deal with any potential protests on the night.”

West Midlands Police said it had deemed the match to be high risk “based on current intelligence and previous incidents,” including violence and hate crimes that took place when Maccabi Tel Aviv played Ajax in Amsterdam last season.

Fan bans are not unheard of in European soccer, but are typically based on a history of violence between fans of rival clubs. There is no history of violence between Aston Villa and Maccabi fans.

However, Maccabi fans have been increasingly in the spotlight over the past year or so, partly linked to the war in Gaza. Most notably, Maccabi fans clashed violently with city residents in Amsterdam last season when the team visited for a Europa League game against Ajax.

Dozens were arrested and five people were treated in hospital following the night of violence which was condemned as antisemitic by authorities and which also saw some supporters of the Israeli team chanting anti-Arab slogans as they headed to the stadium.

“The Maccabi fan base has an egregious track record of racist violence that led them to being banned from the city of Amsterdam," said Ben Jamal, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

In Italy this week there was a heavy police presence, including snipers on the roof of the stadium, for a World Cup qualifier between Italian and Israeli national teams after authorities placed the game in the highest risk category. Around 10,000 people attended a pro-Palestinian march earlier in the day. Later around 50 people — with their faces covered — clashed with police, who used water cannons and tear gas to try to disperse them.

The game at Villa Park will be Maccabi’s first away match in the Europa League, European soccer's second-tier competition, since pro-Palestinian protests took place at the stadium in Thessaloniki, Greece, when the club played PAOK on Sept. 24. About 120 Maccabi fans traveled to Greece for that game and were held behind a police cordon before entering the venue.

European soccer's governing body UEFA was weighing a vote to suspend Israeli teams from its competitions before that was overtaken this month by the ceasefire in Gaza. Though Israel isn't in Europe, its national team and its clubs play in UEFA competitions, as many Muslim nations in the Middle East and Asia boycott the country.

Following Thursday's ban announcement, UEFA urged British authorities to ensure the Israeli team’s fans could go to the match, while Football Supporters Europe, the governing body's recognized advisory and liaison group, said it is opposed to blanket bans for away fans.

“Such away travel ban would be a first in England, and it’s extremely worrying to see the local police take that route when evidence shows that it doesn't solve anything,” it said in a statement. “To the contrary, it creates additional risk by not offering a controlled and secured environment inside the stadium.”

Maccabi Tel Aviv chief executive Jack Angelides, expressed “dismay about what this potentially is signaling.”

“I don’t use this term lightly but people ask, ‘What does antisemitism look like?’ And it’s often manifested as part of a process … in other words small events leading up to something that’s more sinister,” he told the BBC.

Antisemitic incidents in the U.K. have hit record levels following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and Israel’s ensuing military campaign in Gaza, according to Community Security Trust, a charity that provides advice and protection for British Jews. Earlier this month, a synagogue was targeted in a car and knife attack that left two congregants dead.

Emily Damari, a British Israeli dual national who was held captive by Hamas for more than a year before being released in January, and who supports Maccabi as well as English Premier League team Tottenham Hotspur, condemned the ban.

“Football is a way of bringing people together irrespective of their faith, color or religion, and this disgusting decision does the exact opposite," she said. “Shame on you. I hope you come to your senses and reconsider.”

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James Robson in London and Graham Dunbar in Geneva contributed to this report.