Sir Keir Starmer has condemned the decision to exclude supporters of Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv from his team’s match against Aston Villa as “the wrong decision”.
The Prime Minister joined calls for Birmingham City Council’s Security Advisory Group and West Midlands Police to reverse the decision and allow Maccabi fans to attend the match.
The decision to ban visiting Maccabi fans from attending the Europa League match at Villa Park on November 6 was made amid fears for public safety.
Last year, violent clashes broke out between pro-Palestinian protesters and Israeli fans around the Europa League match between Dutch club Ajax and Maccabi in Amsterdam.
Five men were sentenced to prison and more than 60 people were arrested in the riots, which sparked accusations of deliberate anti-Semitic attacks.
But Sir Keir criticized the decision, describing it in a post on X, formerly Twitter, as “the wrong decision”.
He said: “We will not tolerate anti-Semitism on our streets.
“The role of the police is to ensure that all football fans can enjoy the match, without fear of violence or intimidation.”
The Birmingham Security Advisory Group, the body responsible for issuing security certificates for each match at Villa Park, has informed Villa that no visiting fans will be allowed to attend next month’s match.
The move was condemned by Jewish political leaders. UEFA, which runs the Europa League, also urged UK authorities to ensure Maccabi Tel Aviv fans could attend the match in Birmingham.
In a statement, it said: “UEFA wants fans to be able to travel and support their team in a safe and welcoming environment, and encourages both teams and the relevant authorities to agree on the implementation of the appropriate measures necessary to allow this to happen.
A minister said senior government officials will meet on Friday to find “a way” to allow Maccabi fans to attend the match.
Department of Culture Minister Ian Murray said the decision was “completely and absolutely unacceptable” and said Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy “will meet with the Home Office and other stakeholders today to try to see if there is a way to fix this.”
Andrew Fox, honorary president of the Aston Villa Jewish Villans supporters club, said the decision was “a political message rather than a security message”.
The retired British Army major told BBC Radio 4 Today program: “There is no evidence that Maccabi fans are particularly violent. They do not have a history in all their previous European games of having a group of violent fans.”
He said it sends a “really worrying message” about British society and worsens “a febrile political situation.”
He said there were many “well-established ways” to keep rival fans apart, and that bans were usually reserved for cases where there was “guaranteed violence” from away fans.
Maccabi chief executive Jack Angelides said the move was contributing to a rise in anti-Semitism.
“I don’t use this term lightly, but people ask ‘what does anti-Semitism look like?’ And it often manifests itself as part of a process, a process in other words, small events that lead to something that is more sinister,” he told BBC Radio 4. Today program.
He added: “To be honest, what this is potentially indicating has caused some consternation.”
Angelides said the team played in places like Türkiye, which are “not as friendly” to Israeli teams, but the police “were very present” and there were no incidents.
The decision was also called a “national disgrace” by conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and a “shameful decision” by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar.
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“Will you back up those words with action and ensure that Jewish fans can enter 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.”
The Jewish Leadership Council criticized the decision not to allow Maccabi fans to attend the Villa match, saying: “It is perverse that visiting fans are banned from a football match because West Midlands Police cannot guarantee their safety.
“Aston Villa should face the consequences of this decision and the match should be played behind closed doors.”
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: “A serious mistake made by WM Police. You fail to tackle antisemitism by banning its victims. This decision must be reversed.”
UK reform leader Nigel Farage said the move “takes racial discrimination to a whole new level”, while an MP from his party, Danny Kruger, said Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood should consider sacking the police chief responsible.
Baroness Luciana Berger, a former Labor MP who left the party in 2019 amid its antisemitism scandal before rejoining in 2023, said: “This is a shameful decision.
“If West Midlands Police and Birmingham Council cannot ensure security for this match then the city’s ability to host upcoming major international events must be reviewed.”
West Midlands Police said they had classified the Aston Villa vs Maccabi Tel Aviv match as high risk based on “current intelligence and previous incidents, including violent clashes and hate crimes that occurred during the 2024 UEFA Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Amsterdam”.
Videos on social media of the team’s match against Ajax in Amsterdam showed Maccabi fans setting off flares and fireworks and chanting in Hebrew “hey, hey, let the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) win, we’ll screw the Arabs.”
There were also reports of Maccabi fans shouting that “there were no children left” in Gaza.
Ayoub Khan, the pro-Gaza independent MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, welcomed the decision.
He said: “From the moment the match was announced, it was clear that there were latent security risks that even our competent police and security authorities could not fully manage.
“With so much hostility and uncertainty surrounding the party, the right thing to do was to take drastic measures.”
The Palestinian Solidarity Campaign had called for the match to be cancelled, saying in X: “Israeli football teams should not play in international tournaments while committing genocide and apartheid.”