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Maccabi Tel Aviv has said it would reject any tickets for its Europa League football match in Birmingham next month, despite the UK government’s efforts to overturn a ban on the club’s fans attending the game.
The Israeli football club on Monday acknowledged the UK government’s actions but said it had reached the decision not to accept tickets to the match against Aston Villa because of safety concerns.
“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,” the club said.
The UK government had been working to overturn the ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters attending the match, which was put in place by Birmingham City Council’s safety advisory group following concerns raised by West Midlands Police.
The UK government said it was “deeply saddened” by the decision to turn down the tickets but “we respect their right to do so”.
A government spokesperson said: “We will never tolerate antisemitism or extremism on our streets. We will continue to work closely with the police to ensure that this game goes ahead safely, and that Jewish communities across this country get the safety and security they deserve.”
The police had classified the match as “high risk” based on “current intelligence and previous incidents”, including violence and “hate crime offences” during a 2024 match in Amsterdam.
Attacks on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans overshadowed the game in the Netherlands, in what authorities called antisemitic “hit and run” violence.
Amsterdam police also said the team’s fans had chanted anti-Arab slogans and pulled down Palestinian flags.
“We have . . . been working tirelessly to stamp out racism within the more extreme elements of our fanbase,” Maccabi Tel Aviv said.
The behaviour of the team’s fans came under scrutiny this weekend when the club’s derby match against rivals Hapoel Tel Aviv was cancelled because of what Israeli police called “serious public disturbance and violence”, according to local media.
Maccabi Tel Aviv said the Tel Aviv police’s decision to call off the match should not be blamed on the team’s supporters.
The club said: “Our fans regularly travel all over Europe without incident and to suggest that the reason our fans cannot be allowed to travel is due to their behaviour is an attempt to distort reality and to excuse the real underlying reasons for the decision to ban our fans.”
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