Maccabi Tel Aviv will not accept Aston Villa Europa League tickets
Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv have said they will not accept any ticket allocations from Aston Villa if the decision to ban their fans from next month’s Europa League match is overturned.
Birmingham Security Advisory Group (SAG), which is responsible for issuing security certificates for matches, informed Villa last week that no traveling fans would be allowed into the game in the city.
The decision was widely condemned and Culture Minister Lisa Nandy promised the government would “find the resources” to allow Maccabi fans to attend as early as Monday.
However, Maccabi Tel Aviv now says fans will not travel for safety reasons.
A. The club statement said:, external: “The health and safety of our fans is paramount and from the hard lessons we have learned we have taken the decision to reject any proposed allocation on behalf of away fans and our decision must be understood in that context.
“We hope that conditions will change and we look forward to being able to play in a sporting environment in Birmingham in the near future.”
West Midlands Police on Thursday said it had classified the match as “high risk” based on available intelligence and previous incidents, including “violent clashes and hate crime offenses” between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv fans ahead of the match in Amsterdam in November 2024.
Nandy said ministers were working together to fund any police operations necessary to allow fans to attend and if West Midlands Police changed its risk assessment SAG would review the decision.
Nandy said the issue was wider than matchday security, adding that the incident took place “against the backdrop of rising antisemitism here and around the world and an attack on a synagogue in Manchester in which two innocent men were killed”.
Sunday’s Israeli Premier League derby between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Tel Aviv was canceled before kick-off after what police described as “public unrest and violent riots”.
Maccabi said the decision to cancel the match did not belong to its fans and thanked the UK government for their efforts.
They said: “We believe football should be about bringing people together, not dividing them.
“Our fans regularly travel throughout Europe without incident, and to suggest that the reason our fans are not allowed to travel is because of their behavior is an attempt to distort the truth.
“We appreciate the efforts of the UK government and police to ensure both sets of fans can attend the match safely and are grateful for the messages of support from across the football community.”
Aston Villa had previously told matchday referees that they did not have to work for the Maccabi Tel Aviv match and that they understood some “may have concerns”.
Following the club’s announcement about the upcoming fixtures on Thursday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the move as “wrong” and said: “We will not tolerate antisemitism on our streets.”
