Discussions are happening “at pace, across Government” to resolve the ban on fans of Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv from next month’s Europa League game at Aston Villa, Downing Street has said.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer wants to do “everything in his power” to ensure Jewish people feel safe in the UK, a No 10 spokesman added.
Authorities in Birmingham are facing mounting pressure to overturn the ban on visiting fans from attending the match at Villa Park on November 6.
The Home Office has been speaking with police in Birmingham to offer them support, Downing Street said.
But senior officers at the UK Football Policing Unit backed the ban, saying it was “important that we respect and support the structures in place for making these decisions”.
The unit added that the Home Office had been “briefed last week” about “potential issues” with visiting fans and the possibility that restrictions might be imposed.
Conversations aimed at overturning the ban began on Thursday night, No 10 told reporters, and have also included a phone call between Communities Secretary Steve Reed and Birmingham City Council.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy is, meanwhile, “meeting officials to discuss what more can be done to try to find a way through to resolve this, and what more can be done to allow fans to attend the game safely”, a No 10 spokesman said.
He added: “You can expect to hear further updates today. I won’t pre-empt the conversations, but these are happening at pace, across Government, with all the relevant groups to find a way to resolve this.”
The Prime Minister has been “angered by the decision”, the spokesman also said, adding: “While of course this is an operational decision, we are perfectly entitled to speak out on fundamental principles of fairness like this.”
He said: “The Prime Minister will do everything in his power to give Jewish communities the security they deserve and, as he has made clear, we think this is the wrong decision.”
The Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv fixture has been classified high risk by West Midlands Police based on “current intelligence and previous incidents”.
The force pointed to violent clashes and hate crime offences that occurred during the 2024 Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Amsterdam.
Birmingham’s safety advisory group (SAG), which brings together the council and police force, has faced widespread criticism from across the political spectrum for its decision to implement the ban.
The West Midlands’ police and crime commissioner Simon Foster called for Birmingham council officials and West Midlands Police to review the decision.
The review would “determine whether or not this decision and recommendation is appropriate, necessary, justified, reasonable and a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim”, he said.
Labour mayor of the West Midlands Richard Parker suggested the Government could finance the policing costs should the ban be overturned.
He wrote on social media: “Whilst I respect West Midlands Police, if the Government are willing to support in terms of resource then there should be a review of the decision that has been made.”
Emily Damari, a British-Israeli who was held captive by Hamas for more than a year before being released in January, and who supports Maccabi and Tottenham, was among those who criticised the ban.
She said: “I do wonder what exactly has become of UK society. This is like putting a big sign on the outside of a stadium saying: ‘No Jews allowed’.
“What has become of the UK where blatant antisemitism has become the norm? What a sad world we are living in.”
Andrew Fox, honorary president of Aston Villa’s Jewish Villans supporters’ club, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the decision to ban fans of the Israeli side is “a political message rather than a safety message” and there was “no evidence of Maccabi’s fans being particularly violent”.
UEFA, which runs the Europa League, urged UK authorities to make sure Maccabi fans could attend the Villa Park fixture.
Jack Angelides, the chief executive of Maccabi, said he did not want to take security issues lightly but told the BBC the team has travelled to places such as Turkey, where he said the sentiment is “not so kind towards Israeli teams”, but the police “were out in force” and there were no incidents.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch urged the Home Secretary and the Prime Minister to “get involved” if the police did not reverse its decision to ban Maccabi supporters.
She said Sir Keir “needs to show he has got a backbone and isn’t so weak that he will just allow Jewish people to be terrorised here”.
