European nights in football can be exciting. This is particularly true for fans. Fans have the opportunity to travel to different countries to support their team. It can be a series of adventures to remember. There are times, though, that away fans are barred from attending matches. These reasons can vary. The main reason would be security concerns.
Israeli club, Maccabi Tel Aviv, has been in the headlines recently due to their fans not being allowed to attend their Europa League game against English club, Aston Villa.
West Midlands Police has concerns about its ability to deal with any potential protests when the Israeli side play at Villa Park on Thursday, 6 November.
The Safety Advisory Group (SAG) - the body responsible for issuing safety certificates for matches - informed Villa no travelling fans will be permitted at the match in Birmingham. Aston Villa said: "The club are in continuous dialogue with Maccabi Tel Aviv and the local authorities throughout this ongoing process."
"The safety of supporters attending the match and the safety of local residents is at the forefront of any decision."
The move has been criticised by a number of politicians, with Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, describing it as, "the wrong decision."
West Midlands Police said the upcoming game has been classified as "high risk" following a "thorough assessment."
A spokesperson said: "This decision is based on current intelligence and previous incidents, including violent clashes and hate crime offences that occurred during the 2024 Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Amsterdam. Based on our professional judgement, we believe this measure will help mitigate risks to public safety."
Nigel Huddleston, MP for Droitwich and Evesham, criticised the decision and said he had asked culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, to investigate. "Football and sport has enormous power to unite. This decision gives in to the forces of hatred and division," he wrote on social media.
"Are we seriously saying that in modern Britain we cannot guarantee the safety of Jewish people on our streets and in our sports grounds? I'm not OK with that. Every effort should be made by all stakeholders to overturn this decision."
Sir Keir wrote on social media platform, X, that the, "role of the police is to ensure all football fans can enjoy the game, without fear of violence or intimidation." Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, called the decision a "national disgrace."Thirty-nine people were arrested after violence broke out in the build-up to Villa's game with Legia Warsaw in 2023.
The government said it would do "everything in our power" to make sure all fans could attend the match, adding that it was exploring what additional resources were required.
Sir Keir Starmer called the move to block fans attending "wrong," adding, "we will "not tolerate antisemitism on our streets," while there has also been criticism from other party leaders. Downing Street said the Home Office was "urgently working to support police to try and find a way through this" and Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, Lisa Nandy, was meeting officials.
The SAG will review the decision if West Midlands Police changes its risk assessment for the match, Birmingham City Council said.
On Thursday, West Midlands Police said it had classified the fixture as "high risk" based on current intelligence and previous incidents, including "violent clashes and hate crime offences" between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv fans before a match in Amsterdam in November 2024.
More than 60 people were arrested over the violence, which city officials described as a, "toxic combination of antisemitism, hooliganism and anger" over the war in Gaza, Israel and elsewhere in the Middle East.
The Culture, Media and Sport Committee in Parliament has called on West Midlands Police to explain why it doesn't believe it can safely police next month's match without the ban.
In a letter to the force's chief constable, committee chair, Dame Caroline Dinenage MP, said the decision was "extremely concerning" and "at odds with the principle that football in this country is for everyone."
Senior officers at the UK Football Policing Unit - which advises on security at matches across the country - backed the ban and said 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.
Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, said the revelation left the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, with "serious questions to answer" about why her department did "nothing" to avert the ban. She said: "This is a weak government that fails to act when required."
A source close to Mahmood told the BBC that "this is categorically untrue." "The first time the home secretary knew that the fans were being banned was last night," they added.
Downing Street said blocking supporters from attending was an "operational decision" made by local authorities and said Nandy was in discussions about "what more can be done to allow fans to attend the game safely".
Simon Foster, West Midlands' police and crime commissioner, said he has asked the Safety Advisory Group and the police to "conduct an immediate review of the decision" to determine whether it was justified.
Aston Villa said it was in "continuous dialogue with Maccabi Tel Aviv and the local authorities," with the safety of supporters and local residents "at the forefront of any decision." Jack Angelides, chief executive at Maccabi Tel Aviv, said the decision to block fans had been "met with some dismay about what this is potentially signalling."
Chaired by Birmingham City Council's head of resilience, the SAG is made up of officials from the local authority, emergency responders - including the police - and event organisers.
According to the council website, its role is to offer advice and guidance regarding public health and safety at events, including to "reduce any negative impact" but it isn't able to approve or reject them.
The power to issue safety certificates, which can come with conditions, ultimately lies with local councils. It is illegal for sporting events to go ahead without one in grounds with more than 10 000 spectators.
A Birmingham City Council spokesperson said that a meeting had been held with "all relevant partners to assess safety arrangements" for the fixture. "Following a thorough review, concerns were raised regarding public safety if away fans attend the match, by the police," they added. "As a result, a collective decision was made to restrict away fan attendance."
Ayoub Khan, an independent MP for Birmingham Perry Barr who campaigned on a pro-Gaza platform in last year's general election, had pushed for the match to be cancelled due to safety concerns and welcomed Thursday's decision.
He told BBC Newsnight the Prime Minister "should stay out of operational matters" and leave it to local authorities. Khan added: "Nobody should tolerate anti-semitism - we all condemned what happened in Manchester, that was clearly anti-semitic," referring to the deadly synagogue attack earlier this month.
"But we cannot conflate anti-semitism when we look at what some of these fans did in Amsterdam in 2024. The vile chants of racism and hatred, the chants that there are no schools left in Gaza because there are no children left in Gaza."
I wrote a piece on the Amsterdam attack: https://www.nicklieberthal.com/blog/antisemitism-in-amsterdam
Andrew Fox, honourary president of Aston Villa's Jewish Villans supporters' club, said he thought Khan's comments on Amsterdam were "shameful," describing what happened there as a "premeditated Jew hunt."
Emily Damari, a British-Israeli citizen who was held hostage in Gaza and released in January, said she was "shocked to my core with this outrageous decision."
Ms. Damari, who described herself as as "die-hard fan of Maccabi Tel Aviv," said: "Football is a way of bringing people together irrespective of their faith, colour or religion and this disgusting decision does the exact opposite."
The decision was also criticised by the Liberal Democrats and Reform UK, as well as Israeli government officials. The Green Party backed the decision and said it was "irresponsible" for Starmer to question a local authority's safety decision.
Green deputy leader, Mothin Ali, said: "These games are taking place in the context of thousands of civilians being killed in Gaza, the illegal occupation of Palestinian land and the upholding of a system of apartheid."
There have been protests at various sporting events over the war in Gaza, including when Israel's national team played Norway and Italy in recent World Cup qualifiers. Football's European governing body, UEFA, said it wanted fans to be able to travel and support their team in a "safe, secure and welcoming environment."
UEFA has also urged UK authorities to make sure 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, secure and welcoming environment, and encourages both teams and the competent authorities to agree on the implementation of appropriate measures necessary to allow this to happen."
"In all cases, the competent local authorities remain responsible for decisions related to the safety and security of matches taking place on their territory, such decisions being determined on the basis of thorough risk assessments, which vary from match to match and take into consideration previous circumstances."
Arrests were made after violence broke out before the match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv in November last year. Amsterdam officials described the violence as a "toxic combination of antisemitism, hooliganism, and anger" over the war in Gaza, Israel and elsewhere in the Middle East.
A ceasefire in Gaza came into effect on 10 October.
I believe that the fans should be allowed to travel to watch the game. As Ms. Damari said, sports can unite people. I have even said it in the past. On most occasions, fights can be onnce-off. What happened in Amsterdam can be an isolated incident.
Everything should be done to ensure that the Maccabi Tel Aviv fans are allowed to attend the match.