{"id":125704,"date":"2025-11-10T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=125704"},"modified":"2025-11-08T08:48:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-08T06:48:13","slug":"10-00-116","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=125704","title":{"rendered":"Eleven Arrested Amid Heavy UK Police Presence at Soccer Match Between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Aston Villa"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/a>Eleven Arrested Amid Heavy UK Police Presence at Soccer Match Between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Aston Villa<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

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

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Soccer Football \u2013 UEFA Europa League \u2013 Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv \u2013 Villa Park, Birmingham, Britain \u2013 Nov. 6, 2025, Aston Villa\u2019s Ian Maatsen scores their first goal. Photo: Action Images via Reuters<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

British police said 11 men were arrested during protests outside Maccabi Tel Aviv\u2019s UEFA Europa League game on Thursday night against Aston Villa in the United Kingdom, a match in which the Israeli team lost and also had its fans banned from attending.<\/span><\/p>\n

West Midlands Police\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0a 63-year-old man was arrested for a racially aggravated public order offense after he was heard shouting a racist remark during a road rage incident near Villa Park, the arena where the match was taking place. A 21-year-old man was arrested for failing to comply with an order to remove a face mask, and a 17-year-old boy was arrested for failing to comply with a dispersal order.<\/span><\/p>\n

Three other people were arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated public order offenses, including a 34-year-old and 29-year-old who both shouted abuse toward pro-Israel demonstrators. The latter was also arrested for possession of an illegal drug, and a 67-year-old was arrested for shouting racist abuse at a police officer.<\/span><\/p>\n

A 32-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offense after shouting racist abuse toward a pro-Palestinian group. Meanwhile, a 21-year-old man was arrested after trying to throw fireworks on the ground, and another was arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply drugs.<\/span><\/p>\n

West Midlands Police maintained a \u201chigh-visibility police presence\u201d around Villa Park throughout the night, the police department said. \u00a0Roughly 700 officers\u00a0were dispatched<\/a>\u00a0to keep order outside the arena amid planned protests by pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli groups. There were also police horses, police dogs, a drone unit, roads policing unit, and protest liaison officers.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis has definitely been one of the most contentious and controversial matches we\u2019ve hosted for some time, but our priority, really clearly, is public safety,\u201d said Birmingham Police Commander and Chief Superintendent Tom Joyce. \u201cIt\u2019s about protecting the communities that live in and around Aston Villa, and reassuring those communities who are potentially affected by the match tonight.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Aston Villa beat Maccabi Tel Aviv 2-0 in the league phase match taking place at Villa Park, which located in the city of Birmingham in central England. At the end of the match, lines of police officers made sure soccer fans leaving the stadium were separated from the anti-Israel protesters who remained outside the area and there were no confrontations, according to\u00a0The Independent<\/em>. Police officers also pushed back protestors outside Villa Park during the game.<\/span><\/p>\n

Before the start of the game, hundreds attended\u00a0a protest<\/a>\u00a0outside of Villa Park, organized by the group Palestine Solidarity Campaign, to demand Israel be excluded from all international soccer competitions. Attendees held signs with anti-Israel messages and Palestinian flags, and chanted \u201cFree, free Palestine.\u201d A smaller counter-protest took place in solidarity with the Israeli club and its fans, who had been banned from attending the game.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maccabi Tel Aviv fan and Arab-Christian activist Yoseph Haddad traveled from Israel to express support for Maccabi Tel Aviv at the venue and protest the ban against the club\u2019s supporters.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou have a problem with us and not the fact that people cannot come to Britain and watch a football game because you have extremists here who don\u2019t want certain people to be here? You should check yourself,\u201d he said in a video shared on X. \u201cWe\u2019re not in Nazi Germany. This is not the 1940s. And I promise you we will not be silent. We will be here, and show the truth of the Israeli society, and we will scream it and shout it as loud as possible. Stop the hate.\u201d<\/span>
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