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Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer fans won’t be allowed to attend a Europa League game at Aston Villa next month because of security concerns, the English club announced on Thursday, drawing condemnation from Israel as well as UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
The move comes after there were anti-Israel protests in recent days at the Israeli national team’s World Cup qualifiers against Norway and Italy, with police using tear gas on protesters and pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Oslo and Udine. Last year, fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv were ambushed and violently attacked by organized gangs in Amsterdam following a match against Ajax.
Ahead of the November 6 game, Aston Villa said it was following instructions from the Safety Advisory Group (SAG), a body responsible for issuing safety certificates for games at Villa Park, based on a number of physical and safety factors.
“Following a meeting this afternoon, the SAG have formally written to the club and [European soccer body] UEFA to advise no away fans will be permitted to attend Villa Park for this fixture,” it said in a statement. “West Midlands Police have advised the SAG that they have public safety concerns outside the stadium bowl and the ability to deal with any potential protests on the night.”
The team added that it was 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.”
Local police said on Thursday they had classified the game as “high risk” following a “thorough assessment.”
“This decision is based on current intelligence and previous incidents, including violent clashes and hate crime offenses that occurred during the 2024 UEFA Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Amsterdam,” a spokesperson for the force said.
Hapoel Be’er Sheva and Maccabi Tel Aviv face off at Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv on July 13, 2025. (Flash90)
Maccabi Tel Aviv did not appear to have commented on the ban as of late Thursday evening, but several Israeli, British and Jewish leaders condemned the announcement.
“This is the wrong decision. We will not tolerate antisemitism on our streets,” Starmer said on X. “The role of the police is to ensure all football fans can enjoy the game, without fear of violence or intimidation.”
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar described Villa’s announcement as a “shameful decision” on X.
“I call on the UK authorities to reverse this coward[ly] decision,” he wrote.
Ian Austin, the British trade envoy to Israel, said on X that he was “appalled” by the decision. He called on police leadership to review the ban.
“It looks like they have capitulated to a campaign by trouble-makers and abdicated their responsibility to ensure people can go about their lawful business safely,” Austin’s statement said. “Birmingham is a great international city. It welcomes visitors from all over the world and they must be able to come in safely.”
The London-based Jewish Leadership Council called Thursday’s decision unfair.
“It is perverse that away fans should be banned from a football match because West Midlands Police can’t guarantee their safety. Aston Villa should face the consequences of this decision and the match should be played behind closed doors,” the organization said in a statement.
Fans at the Israeli Super Cup match between Hapoel Be’er Sheva and Maccabi Tel Aviv at Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv, July 13, 2025. (Flash90)
But Ayoub Khan, the British MP who represents Aston Villa’s home constituency and who is a harsh critic of Israel, celebrated the decision, which he had pushed for. He cited the Maccabi-Ajax game last November in Amsterdam, without noting that the Israeli fans were attacked after the match.
“I had many residents and businesses express concern of the Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from coming into our area. Clearly we have all witnessed the scenes in Amsterdam, the violence that was displayed by the fans the night before the match. We all watched and listened to those vile chants of hatred and racism. And so there’s no space for that kind of behavior here in Birmingham.”
In Amsterdam, Maccabi fans chanted anti-Arab songs, vandalized a taxi and pulled down a Palestinian flag.
Following the match, mobs of antisemitic rioters targeted and beat up the Israelis, in an apparently organized, widespread attack that resulted in injuries to Maccabi fans as well as dozens of arrests, and that was roundly condemned by Dutch and Israeli leaders.
“It’s a terrible antisemitic attack,” Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said afterward. “And we will not tolerate it. And we will prosecute the perpetrators. And I am deeply ashamed that it could happen in the Netherlands in 2024.”
People welcome Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer fans as they arrive at Ben-Gurion Airport on a flight from Amsterdam, where Israeli soccer fans were attacked following a match between the club and Ajax Amsterdam, November 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)
Israel and Israeli players have faced protests and bans throughout the war against Hamas in Gaza. Surrounding Wednesday’s Israel-Italy World Cup qualifier, around 10,000 people attended a pro-Palestinian march, which stayed incident-free for nearly three hours before arriving at its final stop.
Then about 50 people — with their faces covered — started clashing with police, who used water cannons and tear gas to try and disperse them. Some spectators booed Israel’s national anthem, “Hatikvah,” before the match, but applause from the rest of the crowd largely drowned that out.
Four days earlier, anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian protests took place inside and outside the stadium where a Norway-Israel match was taking place. Later, Norwegian police confirmed they had used tear gas on a group of protesters who attempted to breach the barricades surrounding the stadium as the match was being played.
Anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian protesters gather ahead of the World Cup qualifying soccer match between Norway and Israel in Oslo, October 11, 2025. (Javad Parsa/NTB Scanpix via AP)
Global soccer body FIFA has faced repeated calls to act against Israel over the war in Gaza, with Palestinian officials pressing for Israel to be suspended from international soccer.
The issue has been under review by FIFA for months, but no decision has yet been taken, with FIFA president Gianni Infantino consistently saying such matters require consensus with the confederations and must be handled with caution. He recently said, “FIFA cannot solve geopolitical problems.”
Earlier this month, FIFA vice president Victor Montagliani said Israel’s continued participation in international soccer has to be dealt with first and foremost by UEFA.
UEFA appeared poised for an emergency vote on suspending Israel from European competition last month, but reportedly held off on a proposed vote following the announcement of US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the Gaza war, which was adopted last week.
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