{"id":125103,"date":"2025-10-18T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=125103"},"modified":"2025-10-18T08:02:22","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T06:02:22","slug":"21-05-118","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=125103","title":{"rendered":"UK Authorities Call for \u2018Immediate Review\u2019 of Local Ban on Israeli Soccer Fans Amid Government Outrage"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>UK Authorities Call for \u2018Immediate Review\u2019 of Local Ban on Israeli Soccer Fans Amid Government Outrage<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h5>\n

Shiryn Ghermezian<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Soccer Football \u2013 UEFA Europa League \u2013 Maccabi Tel Aviv v GNK Dinamo Zagreb \u2013 TSC Arena, Topola, Serbia \u2013 Oct. 2, 2025, Maccabi Tel Aviv players pose for a team group photo before the match. Photo: REUTERS\/Zorana Jevtic<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The police and crime commissioner of the West Midlands Police (WMP) force in the United Kingdom has called for an \u201cimmediate review\u201d of a decision to ban fans of the Israeli soccer team Maccabi Tel Aviv from attending the club\u2019s UEFA Europa League game against Aston Villa next month following outrage from British government officials.<\/span><\/p>\n

Simon Foster\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0he is requesting an urgent reassessment of the decision, made by Birmingham\u2019s Safety Advisory Group (SAG), to determine \u201cwhether or not this decision and recommendation is appropriate, necessary, justified, reasonable, and a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim,\u201d which is to ensure the safety and security of those attending the match on Nov. 6 at Villa Park in Birmingham. \u201cThat must include consideration, of all and any suitable, alternative options,\u201d he added.<\/span><\/p>\n

Foster concluded by saying that any decision or recommendation about the Nov. 6 match is ultimately a matter for the SAG to determine alongside the \u201cindependent, objective, and impartial operational policing judgement\u201d of WMP.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer fans will not be allowed to attend the match at Villa Park in Birmingham because of security concerns, and the move has drawn condemnation from government officials in Israel and the UK, including British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the wrong decision. We will not tolerate antisemitism on our streets,\u201d Starmer\u00a0wrote<\/a>\u00a0on X. \u201cThe role of the police is to ensure all football fans can enjoy the game, without fear of violence or intimidation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Aston Villa\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0on Thursday that the decision was made by the SAG, a body comprised of several professional authorities responsible for issuing safety certificates for events at Villa Park. The SAG informed the club and UEFA that no away fans would be allowed to attend the game, the team noted.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFollowing 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,\u201d Aston Villa said in a statement. \u201cWest 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.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The team added that it was in \u201ccontinuous 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.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

West Midlands Police\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0on Thursday it supports the SAG\u2019s decision, and that police classified the match as \u201chigh risk\u201d after \u201ca thorough assessment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis decision is based on current intelligence and previous incidents, including\u00a0violent clashes and hate crime offenses<\/a>\u00a0that occurred during the 2024 UEFA Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Amsterdam,\u201d the police force said in a released statement. \u201cBased on our professional judgement, we believe this measure will help mitigate risks to public safety.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Downing Street said there are talks \u201cat pace, across government\u201d to resolve the issue regarding the ban against Maccabi Tel Aviv fans.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCulture Secretary Lisa Nandy is meeting officials to discuss what more can be done to try and find a way through to resolve this, and what more can be done to allow fans to attend the game safely,\u201d the spokesperson said, as cited by the BBC. \u201cThe Secretary of State for Housing, Communities, and Local Government, Steve Reed, spoke to the local council this morning, and the Home Office is urgently working to support police to try and find a way through this.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The UK\u2019s Conservative Party Leader Kemi Badenoch said the ban was a \u201cnational disgrace\u201d and called on Starmer to \u201cguarantee that Jewish fans can walk into any football stadium in this country.\u201d Conservative MP Matt Vickers\u00a0criticized<\/a>\u00a0the move as \u201cutterly outrageous\u201d while MP for the Liberal Democrat party Ed Davey demanded that the ban be reversed \u201cas soon as possible\u201d and said, \u201cIt\u2019s completely wrong to tackle antisemitism by banning its victims.\u201d Reform UK leader and MP Nigel Farage wrote on X: \u201cThis takes racial discrimination to a whole new level.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The British nongovernmental organization Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) told the Birmingham City Council and West Midlands Police that it intends to bring a judicial review over the decision. \u201cOur lawyers are writing to the council and police in accordance with the pre-action protocol for judicial review,\u201d CAA\u00a0wrote<\/a>\u00a0in a statement on X. \u201cPolice forces and local councils must do whatever it takes to ensure that Britain is safe for everyone \u2026 We will do whatever it takes to overturn this pernicious ban which has humiliated and angered the whole country.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa\u2019ar\u00a0described<\/a>\u00a0the ban as a \u201cshameful decision\u201d and called on UK officials to reverse the \u201ccoward\u201d move against Israeli soccer fans.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ian Austin, the UK\u2019s trade envoy to Israel,\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0he was \u201cappalled\u201d by the ban and called on police to review the decision.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt 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,\u201d he said. \u201cBirmingham is a great international city. It welcomes visitors from all over the world, and they must be able to come in safely. International sport is one of our most important exports and this has major implications for fixtures in the future.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In November 2024, Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were\u00a0violently attacked<\/a>\u00a0by fans of the Dutch soccer team Ajax followed a European League match between the two teams in Amsterdam. During the\u00a0premeditated and coordinated violence<\/a>, Maccabi fans were chased with knives and sticks in the streets, run over by cars, physically beaten, and forced by their attackers to say, \u201cFree Palestine.\u201d\u00a0Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema called the attackers \u201cantisemitic hit-and-run squads\u201d who went \u201cJew hunting<\/a>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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UK Authorities Call for \u2018Immediate Review\u2019 of Local Ban on Israeli Soccer Fans Amid Government Outrage Shiryn Ghermezian Soccer Football \u2013 UEFA Europa League \u2013 Maccabi Tel Aviv v GNK Dinamo Zagreb \u2013 TSC Arena, Topola, Serbia \u2013 Oct. 2, 2025, Maccabi Tel Aviv players pose for a team group photo before the match. Photo: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[33,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125103"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=125103"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125103\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":125113,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125103\/revisions\/125113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=125103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=125103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=125103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}