Fans of Israeli football team Maccabi Tel Aviv have been banned from attending the Europa League game against Aston Villa over security concerns.
The Premier League club shared the decision to ban away supporters, which came from Birmingham City’s Safety Advisory Group (SAG), which oversees safety certificates for matches at the Villa Park stadium.
The call, which would deny up to 1,000 visiting supporters from attending the match, has been criticised by Sir Keir Starmer, who maintains that the role of the police is "to ensure all football fans can enjoy the game, without fear of violence or intimidation”.
While Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch also strongly rejected the decision, labelling it “a national disgrace,” though West Midlands Police supported the move, highlighting how the fixture is “high-risk”.
So how did we get here and why is the decision so controversial?
The decision has come after violent clashes and hate crime offences that took place around the Uefa Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Amsterdam last year, which the Eredivisie side won 5-0.
Pro-Palestinian supporters and Israeli fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv clashed in the Dutch capital. Amsterdam’s police chief said Maccabi supporters attacked a taxi and set a Palestinian flag on fire the day before the match, as well as chanting anti-Palestinian slogans on matchday. The clashes led to dozens of arrests, while five people were imprisoned.
There have been accusations of antisemitic attacks in the immediate aftermath of the clashes from 6-7 November. Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema claimed the incidents caused “a black night and a dark day” for the city, claiming antisemitic “criminals” attacked Jewish visitors and that “it was hit and run”.
So why is the decision to ban fans controversial?
Uefa, European football’s governing body, has told Reuters that competent local authorities are responsible for the decision over fan safety.
Some supporters have reacted negatively to the decision, pointing out it will impact the atmosphere, while Jonny Gould, former director of the Aston Villa Supporters Trust, maintains he “doesn’t want politics in the business of football”.
While a more serious impact from the decision, according to Maccabi Tel Aviv chair Jack Angelides, is how it might set a precedent for how events are handled moving forward.
“To be frank, it’s met with some dismay about what this potentially is signalling,” he told Radio 4’s Today show. “I do think this is an extremely important moment because of what it signifies. 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 – a process, in other words, small events leading up to something that’s more.”
So what happens now?
Culture secretary Lisa Nandy and Home Office officials are meeting on Friday to see if they can reverse the decision, according to minister Ian Murray, who covers the government’s culture and science departments.
Mr Murray told Sky News: “The prime minister and the government have been clear about that. In fact, pretty much every politician has been clear about that.
“It’s just completely and utterly unacceptable, and the prime minister has said we will do everything we possibly can to resolve this issue. It’s an operational issue for the police, and government doesn’t get involved in operational issues for the police.”
While the West Midlands’ police and crime commissioner Simon Foster has called on the police and Birmingham City Council’s Safety Advisory Group to also immediately review the decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans, and conclude whether the move is “appropriate, necessary, justified, reasonable and a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim”.
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