Breaking news as West Midlands Police and Birmingham City Council-led Safety Advisory Group came under extraordinary political pressure over their decision to ban fans of the Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv from game against Villa
Close up of the Aston Villa (left) and Maccabi Tel Aviv club badges on a scarf(Image: PA)
West Midlands Police and Birmingham’s safety advisory group members have reviewed the decision to ban fans of Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv from next week’s game against Villa.
And, despite the extraordinary political backlash that followed, they have restated their conviction that Maccabi fans should be excluded from the match on November 6 on safety grounds.
The multi agency Villa Safety Advisory Group, chaired by Birmingham City Council, met behind closed doors. They have been under pressure amid claims the original ban was rooted in ‘antisemitism’.
READ MORE: Missed chances to halt Maccabi Tel Aviv Villa Park fan ban revealed – and why no-one did
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Jewish community leaders were among those who had lashed out and insisted a review of the decision was necessary.
One former West Midlands police chief, Mat Shaer, who led the fight against hate crime locally condemned the force, calling the decision ’embarrassing’, while the Campaign Against Antisemitism announced it was to make a legal challenge if the ban remained in place.
By contrast, the UK Policing Unit spoke out to defend the police and the safety advisory group. It said the government should change the law if it wished to intervene on decisions related to the policing of football matches.
High level talks followed between the police and local and national political and community leaders. The Home Office subsequently pledged to offer ‘any resources needed’ to West Midlands Police to ensure the Israeli fans could safely attend.
Content cannot be displayed without consent
But after taking everything ‘relevant’ into account, the Safety Advisory Group has now maintained its original decision. It has shared its advice with Aston Villa FC again.
The group met last Friday but its decision was not publicised.
A council spokesperson said today: “A multi-agency Safety Advisory Group (SAG) has met to consider any public safety impacts relating to the Aston Villa vs Maccabi Tel Aviv football match.
“Partners agreed with the Police assessment that the match was high risk.
“In order to support public safety and reduce risk to the lowest possible level the SAG advised on options that would minimise significant public safety impacts, including no away fans attending.
“This advice has been communicated to Aston Villa FC by the SAG.”
They added: “Birmingham is a diverse city and we welcome people from all backgrounds and religions and we take seriously our responsibilities to keep the city and people safe at all times.”
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had called the move to block fans attending “wrong”, adding “we will “not tolerate antisemitism on our streets”.
While West Midlands Chief Constable Craig Guildford, asked about the furore surrounding the ban, had said: “I’ve read some of the intelligence that’s been received and the assessment that’s been made. It’s based on professional judgement.”
Reports that contributed to the decision have not yet been released but we understand police intelligence had concluded the biggest risk of violence came from extremist fans of the Israeli club.
Based largely on intel from European police forces, West Midlands officers told the safety advisory group that an away fans ban was the right approach. They based this on information including:
- Scores of extreme Maccabi fans with a past history of violence and shouting racist taunts were expected to travel to the Birmingham game, even if they were not given tickets.
- Dutch police told their British counterparts that the Maccabi fans had instigated trouble in Amsterdam at a game last year by making racist and provocative chants and had randomly picked Muslims to attack. That led to reprisal violence with some Dutch Jews attacked and instigated what was later reported as a ‘mini pogrom’.
- A huge Dutch police effort, involving 5,000 officers across three days, was needed to quell the trouble.
- A community impact assessment by West Midlands Police apparently recorded that some Jewish people wanted the Maccabi fans banned because of the trouble that might ensue and the reputational harm they would bring.
- Maccabi fans attending the Birmingham game could trigger reprisals from local people and further trouble.
The Safety Advisory Group did not consider whether the ban on fans of Maccabi could be deemed antisemitic, we understand.
However, we are also told that consideration was given to the potential of additional protests at and around the ground.
Intelligence reports suggest there is a strong potential for pro Palestine protests, an anti-hate, pro Israel demonstration, an anti racism gathering and the potential attendance of Tommy Robinson and supporters.
Those might still go ahead despite the ban on away supporters.
In the midst of the furore, officials at Maccabi Tel Aviv announced they would not be taking up the club’s away fans allocation, even if the ban was overturned.
In a damning statement they said that a “toxic atmosphere” had put the safety of fans wanting to attend “very much in doubt”.
READ MORE: Inside Villa Maccabi ban row as Birmingham council leader reveals he ‘warned police chief not to’
“The wellbeing and safety of our fans is paramount and from hard lessons learned, we have taken the decision to decline any allocation offered on behalf of away fans and our decision should be understood in that context.
“We hope circumstances will change and look forward to being able to play in Birmingham in a sporting environment in the near future.”
We can also reveal that two councillors who were caught up in the backlash and accused of influencing the ban did not contribute to the new discussions. Cllr Waseem Zaffar was not available to attend, while Aston city councillor Cllr Mumtaz Hussain initially attended but was asked to leave before the conversation opened.
She had attended two previous SAG meetings held to discuss the issue without comment, but this time she was excluded because of a potential ‘conflict of interest’.
Cllr Hussain had previously lobbied for Maccabi Tel Aviv to be excluded from the Europa League over the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza. Cllr Zaffar had also written in a blog post for BirminghamLive that he intended to boycott the game because he felt strongly that the club should be banned.
In a statement West Midlands Police said: “Our risk assessment has not changed and neither has our advice to SAG.”
The role of the Safety Advisory Group
The Aston Villa Safety Advisory Group is one of several ‘SAGs’ who meet regularly in the city to consider major events that might pose safety challenges.
The Villa SAG is a multi agency gathering of up to 85 invitees. Most are officials from the council, police, fire, ambulance, NHS, community safety, highways and public transport organisations, with four councillors invited representing the three council’s main parties plus one ward representative.
Their role is to consider any safety licence restrictions or advice surrounding games and major events held at Villa Park.
READ MORE: Former West Midlands Mayor slams ‘inept’ Maccabi Tel Aviv fan ban
One of their remits is to decide the safe capacity or other restrictions that might need to be applied to an event based on advice from the emergency services.
In the case of the Maccabi Tel Aviv vs Villa game, they considered whether there was any reason to restrict the capacity for the game or any other actions necessary to reduce safety risks. One option could have been to recommend a zero capacity which would have resulted in the game taking place behind closed doors.
West Midlands Police provided reports to the SAG which clarified that the Villa fans posed a ‘low/manageable risk’ while the fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv posed a ‘high risk’.