Ministers are working with police to reverse the ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans attending a football match against Aston Villa, Number 10 has said.
The prime minister is said to be “angered” by the decision to prevent away fans attending the Israeli side’s match in Birmingham on 6 November and is working “at pace” to amend it, according to a Downing Street spokesperson.
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It comes amid claims that the Home Office was briefed last week about the potential for restrictions on visiting fans due to safety concerns.
The UK Football Policing Unit (UKFPU) says it spoke with government officials last week and said ministers should bring forward legislation if they “want a role in regulating football events”.
Local authorities in Birmingham announced on Thursday that they would not allow Maccabi fans to attend the Europa League match.
The move has prompted political outcry with the Tories branding it a “national disgrace” and Sir Keir calling it “the wrong decision”.
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On Friday afternoon, a Downing Street spokesman said it was an operational matter for the police “but as everyone can see, the prime minister has been angered by this news”.
He added: “Ministers and local officials are working with police to try and amend this decision.”
He said further updates can be expected today, with discussions “happening at pace across government with all the relevant groups”.
Those discussions have included a phone call between Communities Secretary Steve Reed and Birmingham City Council, while the Home Office has been speaking to West Midlands Police (WMP).
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has also met officials to “discuss what more can be done to try to find a way through to resolve this, and what more can be done to allow fans to attend the game safely”, Number 10 said.
The decision was made by Birmingham’s Safety Advisory Group (SAG), which is made up of officials from the local authority, emergency responders – including the police – and event organisers.
It was based partly on what happened in Amsterdam last year, when Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters attending a game against Ajax were caught up in attacks in the Dutch capital city.
Before the match, Maccabi fans also tore a Palestinian flag off a building in Amsterdam, set another on fire and chanted anti-Arab slogans on their way to the stadium.
WMP said it had classified the fixture as high risk based on “current intelligence and previous incidents”.
But the decision has been met with backlash from the football community, the Jewish community and politicians across the political spectrum, as well as some senior policing figures.
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Uefa, which runs the Europa League, urged UK authorities to make sure Maccabi fans could attend the Villa Park fixture.
Jack Angelides, the chief executive of Maccabi Tel Aviv, told the BBC they have travelled to places such as Turkey where the sentiment is “not so kind towards Israeli teams”, but the police “were out in force” and there were no incidents.
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The West Midlands’ police and crime commissioner Simon Foster called for Birmingham council officials and West Midlands Police to review the decision, while the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism has said they will seek legal action.
And Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said Sir Keir “needs to show that he’s got a backbone and isn’t so weak that he will just allow Jewish people to be terrorised here”.
‘Home Office briefed last week’
However senior officers at the UKFPU backed the ban, saying it is important to “respect and support the structures in place for making these decisions” as “if there are any adverse incidents then they are the ones that will be held responsible”.
They claimed they briefed the Home Office last week about the potential options the SAG may take “including restrictions on visiting fans”,
The group called for a change in the law if the government wants to intervene in such matters, something first proposed in the wake of the Casey Review following the disorder at the Euro2020 final in Wembley.
“If the government want a role in regulating football events that could be termed ‘events of national significance’, then they need to bring forward legislation to formalise this to ensure accountability sits with decision-makers,” a UKFPU spokesperson said.
‘Moral case for ban’
The ban has also been welcomed by the Green Party’s deputy leader Mothin Ali who said Israeli teams should not be allowed to take part in the tournament at all because of the war in Gaza.
Independent MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, Ayoub Khan, also said there were safety and “moral” arguments to support the ban.
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He told Sky News this was “not about the Jewish community” but “hooligans”, pointing to disorder at the match in Amsterdam last year, when he said Maccabi fans made “vile racist chants” and tore down Palestinian flags.
The game led to 62 arrests, of which 10 were Israelis, and five Israelis were also injured.
Mr Khan acknowledged there were “vile attacks by residents that live in Amsterdam” on the club’s fans too, and said this is “something which the safety advisory group no doubt would have looked into in great detail”.
On the moral argument, he said: “We’ve banned teams from Russia, for example, because of their involvement in Ukraine.
“I firmly believe that we should have that moral equivalence. The banning of Maccabi Tel Aviv would send a strong signal to a nation that is responsible for a genocide.”
Israel denies genocide in Gaza and says its actions are self-defence against Hamas.
