Hooliganism was reason for Maccabi fan ban

West Midlands Police have defended keeping quiet about “significant hooliganism” among Maccabi Tel Aviv fans and confirmed this was the reason they are now banned from attending the Europa League clash with Aston Villa.

More than 700 officers from 20 police forces were deployed on Thursday near Villa Park, where hundreds of people attended demonstrations over the controversial decision.

When it emerged in October that fans of the Israeli club would not be welcome, senior MPs, including Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, said this amounted to antisemitism.

Jack Angelides, chief executive of Maccabi Tel Aviv, told the BBC that banning fans meant “time for some introspection and retrospection”.

Chief Constable Craig Guildford has been asked to appear before the Home Affairs Committee to explain the reasoning behind the ban.

HE He defended the move to the BBC but so far police have remained tight-lipped about the intelligence on which the decision was based.

Shortly before the match, Superintendent Tom Joyce said this was due to “an assessment of the risk posed by the admission of traveling fans”.

On Friday, a spokesman for West Midlands Police explained: “Our original statement did not go into detail as it was not deemed necessary or useful at the time.

“When political commentary on anti-Semitism was developed, our priority was to engage key stakeholders within the Jewish community.

“We explained the hooliganism element to them very candidly and have been working with members of this community ever since on how to deal with a very sensitive issue.”

On Thursday evening, hundreds of pro-Palestinian supporters and a smaller group of pro-Israeli protesters gathered outside the site, waving banners and flags.

West Midlands Police said the night “passed without any major incidents, no serious disturbances and no disruption to the game”, despite some minor scuffles as the remaining Villa fans collapsed.

Ten people were arrested, including for racially aggravated harassment of both pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian groups.

Five people remain in custody, including a 21-year-old man accused of trying to throw fireworks into Villa Park and two men, aged 34 and 29, accused of racially aggravating public order after shouting at pro-Israel demonstrators.

Two people were cautioned, two were released without further action and a 21-year-old man was charged with failing to remove his face mask during a Section 60 order; temporary police powers allowed them to stop and search anyone.

Predictions on social media that tens of thousands of people would demonstrate outside the field did not come true.

Small groups of young people were seen trying to provoke a reaction, but police quickly moved them away.

About 20 minutes before kickoff, several hundred people were gesturing toward pro-Palestinian protesters and chanting the name of far-right activist Tommy Robinson, but they were stopped by a group of police officers and mounted police.

Footage collected from police drones as well as body-worn cameras will be reviewed in the coming days and weeks and could lead to more arrests.

Maccabi Tel Aviv CEO Jack Angelides questioned the ban again on Friday.

He told the BBC: “Why is it that when we have been traveling around Europe with the club for decades, this is the only country that bans our fans and this is the only country where we are told it is not safe for us to stay in the city where we are playing?” he said.

“I don’t know what this means, but I think it’s time for some introspection and retrospection as to why this happened.”

But Ron Winch, a former Metropolitan Police officer, said police had “got the balance right” in sticking with the decision and maximizing safety.

“Football policing has changed a lot in recent years and has become much more steward-based. But the number of officers had to be that high because the police didn’t know what contingencies they would need,” he said.

“The villa park is one of those old-style estates with residential streets, so it is quite easy to contact the police and close it down if necessary.

“I thank West Midlands Police for sticking to their decision, in my view.”

Adil Parkar, from the Al Falaah mosque near Villa Park’s Trinity Road stand, said he felt the night was “very safe overall”.

“From a safety perspective, we certainly deserve credit for the job the police did last night, as this could easily have gone wrong,” he said.

“We are in a place where we can apologize to West Midlands police following some of the statements made by politicians recently and nationally.”

Following the ban, Sir Keir criticized the move, saying “We will not tolerate antisemitism on our streets” and said the role of the police was to “ensure all football fans can enjoy the game without fear of violence or intimidation”.

Culture Minister Lisa Nandy claimed the police’s risk assessment was “based on the risk posed by fans who came to support Maccabi Tel Aviv because they are Israeli and Jewish.”

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch described the decision as a “national disgrace”.

He wrote to X that the prime minister should “guarantee that Jewish fans can enter any football stadium in this country.”