Sir Keir Starmer has condemned a decision to ban supporters of Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv from their team’s match against Aston Villa as “the wrong decision”.
The prime minister joined calls for Birmingham City Council’s Safety Advisory Group and West Midlands Police to reverse the decision and allow Maccabi fans to attend the game.
The move to prohibit Maccabi away supporters from attending the Europa League game at Villa Park on 6 November was made amid public safety fears.
Violent clashes between pro-Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli fans erupted around the Europa League match between Dutch club Ajax and Maccabi in Amsterdam last year.
Five men were given prison sentences and more than 60 people were detained in the riots, which prompted accusations of deliberate antisemitic attacks.
But Sir Keir slammed the decision, describing it in a post on X, formerly Twitter, as “the wrong decision”.
He said: “We will not tolerate antisemitism on our streets.
“The role of the police is to ensure all football fans can enjoy the game, without fear of violence or intimidation.”
Meanwhile the West Midlands police and crime commissioner (PCC) called for an “immediate review” of the ban.
Simon Foster said questioned whether it is “appropriate, necessary, justified, reasonable and a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim”. But he added that any decision is ultimately for the “Safety Advisory Group and the independent, objective and impartial operational policing judgement of West Midlands Police”.
Birmingham’s Safety Advisory Group – the body responsible for issuing safety certificates for every match at Villa Park – informed Villa that no away fans will be permitted to attend next month’s fixture.
The move was condemned by Jewish political leaders. Uefa, which runs the Europa League, also urged UK authorities to make sure Maccabi Tel Aviv fans could attend the match in Birmingham.
In a statement, it said: “Uefa wants fans to be able to travel and support their team in a safe, secure and welcoming environment, and encourages both teams and the competent authorities to agree on the implementation of appropriate measures necessary to allow this to happen.
A minister said senior government figures are meeting on Friday to find “a way through” that would allow Maccabi fans to attend the fixture.
This is the wrong decision.
We will not tolerate antisemitism on our streets.
The role of the police is to ensure all football fans can enjoy the game, without fear of violence or intimidation.https://t.co/8aBeqE4qbA
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) October 16, 2025
Ian Murray, a minister in the culture department, said the decision was “completely and utterly unacceptable” and said culture secretary Lisa Nandy will be “meeting with the Home Office and other stakeholders today to try and see if there’s a way through this”.
Andrew Fox, honorary president of Aston Villa Jewish Villans supporters’ club, said the decision is “a political message rather than a safety message”.
The retired British Army major told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “There’s no evidence of Maccabi’s fans being particularly violent. They don’t have a track record in all of their previous European games of having a violent fan group.”
He said it sends a “really worrying message” about British society and makes “a febrile political situation worse”.
He said there are plenty of “well-established ways” to keep opposing supporters apart, and that bans were usually reserved for cases where there is “guaranteed violence” from the visiting fans.
Maccabi’s chief executive, Jack Angelides, said the move was contributing to a rise in antisemitism.
“I don’t use this term lightly, but people ask ‘what does antisemitism look like?’ And it’s often manifested as part of a process, a process in other words, small events leading up to something that's more sinister,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
He added: “To be frank, it’s met with some dismay about what this potentially is signalling.”
Mr Angelides said the team has played in places such as Turkey, which are “not so kind” to Israeli teams, but the police "were out in force" and there were no incidents.
Meanwhile Emily Damari, a British-Israeli who was held captive by Hamas for more than a year before being released in January, and who supports football teams Maccabi Tel Aviv and Tottenham Hotspur, said the decision to ban Israeli fans attending a match against Aston Villa was "outrageous".
She said: "I am shocked to my core with this outrageous decision to ban me, my family and my friends from attending an Aston Villa game in the UK.
"Football is a way of bringing people together irrespective of their faith, colour or religion, and this disgusting decision does the exact opposite.
"Shame on you. I hope you come to your senses and reconsider.
"I do wonder what exactly has become of UK society. This is like putting a big sign on the outside of a stadium saying: 'No Jews allowed'.
"What has become of the UK where blatant antisemitism has become the norm? What a sad world we are living in."
The decision was also branded a “national disgrace” by Tory leader Kemi Badenoch and a “shameful decision” by Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar.
On X, Ms Badenoch wrote: “Starmer pledged that Jews are welcome and safe in Britain. That he stands shoulder to shoulder with the Jewish community and will use the full force of his government to prove it.
“Will he back those words with action and guarantee that Jewish fans can walk into any football stadium in this country?
“If not, it sends a horrendous and shameful message: there are parts of Britain where Jews simply cannot go.”
The Jewish Leadership Council criticised the decision not to permit Maccabi supporters to attend the Villa game, saying: “It is perverse that away fans should be banned from a football match because West Midlands Police can’t guarantee their safety.
“Aston Villa should face the consequences of this decision and the match should be played behind closed doors.”
This is a national disgrace.
How have things come to this?
Starmer pledged that Jews are welcome and safe in Britain. That he stands shoulder to shoulder with the Jewish community and will use the full force of his government to prove it.
Will he back those words with action… https://t.co/3gZ41UFWFv
— Kemi Badenoch (@KemiBadenoch) October 16, 2025
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: “A serious mistake by WM Police. You don’t tackle antisemitism by banning its victims. This decision must be reversed.”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said the move “takes racial discrimination to a whole new level”, while an MP in his party, Danny Kruger, said home secretary Shabana Mahmood should consider sacking the chief constable responsible.
Baroness Luciana Berger, a former Labour MP who quit the party in 2019 amid its antisemitism scandal before rejoining in 2023, said: “This is a shameful decision.
“If West Midlands Police & Birmingham council can’t guarantee safety for this 1 match, then the city’s ability to host forthcoming major international events should be reviewed.”
West Midlands Police said they had classified the Aston Villa vs Maccabi Tel Aviv fixture as high risk based on “current intelligence and previous incidents, including violent clashes and hate crime offences that occurred during the 2024 Uefa Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Amsterdam”.
Social media videos of the team’s fixture against Ajax in Amsterdam showed Maccabi fans setting off flares and fireworks and chanting in Hebrew “olé, olé, let the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] win, we will f*** the Arabs”.
There were also reports of Maccabi fans chanting that there were “no children” left in Gaza.
Ayoub Khan, the pro-Gaza Independent MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, welcomed the decision.
He said: “From the moment that the match was announced, it was clear that there were latent safety risks that even our capable security and police authorities would not be able to fully manage.
“With so much hostility and uncertainty around the match, it was only right to take drastic measures.”
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign had called for the match to be cancelled, saying on X: “Israeli football teams shouldn’t play in international tournaments whilst it commits genocide and apartheid.”
