Britain stands alone amongst European nations in prohibiting Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters from attending their club's Europa League fixture at Aston Villa, according to the Israeli side's chief executive Jack Angelidis.
The executive questioned the unprecedented decision during a BBC Radio 4 interview following his team's 2-0 loss on Thursday evening.
"Why is it that, in decades of travel by the club in European matches, this is the only country that has banned our fans?" Angelidis asked on the Today programme.
He urged British authorities to engage in "some introspection" regarding the extraordinary security arrangements imposed on the Israeli club.
Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were banned from attending Thursday night's match against Aston Villa
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The match in Birmingham's Muslim-majority district of Aston proceeded amid heightened tensions and vocal demonstrations against the supporter prohibition.
The Israeli delegation faced extraordinary restrictions during their Birmingham visit, with authorities declaring the city unsafe for their presence.
Maccabi were compelled to arrive at Villa Park nearly five hours before the evening kick-off, an arrangement Angelidis described as unique in the club's European competition history.
"This is the only country where we were told that it's unsafe for us to stay in the city where we were playing a match," the chief executive stated.
Players were forced to rest on the floor of the stadium's facilities whilst awaiting the match, a situation Angelidis highlighted as unprecedented.
The security measures represented the most stringent arrangements ever imposed on the Tel Aviv club during their extensive European travels.
Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were forced to watch the match from home
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West Midlands Police attributed the supporter ban primarily to concerns about potential hooliganism from Maccabi fans, an explanation that drew sharp criticism from Angelidis.
The chief executive expressed astonishment at this justification, suggesting the authorities' stated reasoning lacked factual foundation.
"The clip that we heard from the West Midlands Police was that they say that the reason was mostly to do with the behaviour of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans, which obviously surprises us a great deal," he told the BBC.
Angelidis theorised that police may have avoided acknowledging the genuine rationale - that Israeli supporters would face danger - to preserve community relations.
He indicated willingness to debate his fans' conduct but maintained the police explanation was "not really based on any facts."
Journalist Emily Schrader and her companion faced removal from their seats during Thursday's match after wearing shirts bearing the word "Zioness".
Stadium security interrogated the pair following complaints from other spectators who falsely claimed they were Maccabi supporters.
"We were proud to cheer on Aston Villa tonight together in our Zioness shirts - which apparently were so controversial that Islamists reported us and claimed we are @MaccabiTLVFC fans (the horror!)," Schrader posted on X.
Security personnel questioned Schrader about the meaning of "Zioness", to which she responded it signified a female Zionist.
Aston Villa fans were the only ones allowed into Villa Park
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The journalist condemned the incident as "racist discrimination" after staff eventually permitted their return to their seats.
The Amsterdam incident occurred nearly twelve months before Thursday's match, when violence erupted during Maccabi's Europa League encounter with Ajax.
Angelidis acknowledged his supporters' misconduct during that fixture whilst emphasising the disproportionate response they faced.
"I've never painted the situation that our fans did not misbehave. They did. And very, very happy to say that that's really unacceptable," he stated.
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Protests broke out around the outside of Villa Park
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However, he stressed that their actions didn't warrant the subsequent attacks on "families and anyone that was thought to be either Jewish or a fan of Maccabi Tel Aviv."
The chief executive highlighted that arrest records vindicated his supporters, noting: "The facts show who was arrested, who was put in prison. No Maccabi Tel Aviv fans."