West Midlands police and crime commissioner calls for 'immediate review' into Maccabi Tel Aviv fan ban from Birmingham

The decision to ban the away fans was met with backlash from politicians and football fan groups, who dubbed the decision "a political message rather than a safety message."

Sir Keir Starmer called the ban "the wrong decision" while Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch branded the move a "national disgrace".

In a statement, Mr Foster said he has also requested to see the written decision of the SAG, the event operational plan for the match, the assessment carried out by West Midlands Police and other relevant documents.

He said: "The safety and security of all the people and communities of the West Midlands, including visitors to the West Midlands, is my top priority. That is absolute, unconditional and non-negotiable.

"I have today requested Birmingham City Council Safety Advisory Group and West Midlands Police convene a special SAG at the earliest possible opportunity and conduct an immediate review of the decision to prohibit the attendance of away fans at the football match between Aston Villa FC v Maccabi Tel Aviv FC on Thursday, November 6.

"The purpose of my request for a review is to enable the SAG and WMP to determine whether or not this decision and recommendation is appropriate, necessary, justified, reasonable and a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.

"That must include consideration of all and any suitable alternative options."

In a statement on Thursday, Aston Villa said the SAG had "formally written to the club and Uefa to advise no away fans will be permitted to attend" the fixture.

The club statement said the SAG is responsible for issuing safety certificates for every match at Villa Park, based on a number of "physical and safety factors."

The statement added: "West Midlands Police have advised the SAG that they have public safety concerns outside the stadium bowl and the ability to deal with any potential protests on the night."

A spokesman for West Midlands Police said the fixture had been classified 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."

Chief executive of Maccabi Tel Aviv said he would have expected more than 1,000 fans to attend the Europa League match.

He told the BBC: "To be frank, it’s met with some dismay about what this potentially is signalling.

"We understand the reasons that have been put to us which are to do with the feeling that the authorities will not be able to adequately protect our fans who would be attending the match."

Mr Angelides said he tries to avoid interfering in how other countries should behave, adding: "But I do think this is an extremely important moment because of what it signifies. I don’t use this term lightly but people ask 'what does antisemitism look like?'

"It’s often manifested as part of a process, a process in other words small events leading up to something that’s more sinister."

Ayoub Khan, pro-Gaza independent MP for Birmingham Perry Barr who campaigned on the issue, welcomed the decision to ban away supporters from attending the match.

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."

Speaking to the BBC, he said: "Nobody should tolerate antisemitism, we all condemned what happened in Manchester, that was clearly antisemitic.

"But we cannot conflate antisemitism when we look at what some of these fans did in Amsterdam in 2024.

"The vile chants of racism and hatred, the chants that there are no schools left in Gaza because there are no children left in Gaza."