'Completely unacceptable!' Maccabi Tel Aviv fans will not be able to buy Aston Villa tickets as club makes statement

It comes amid intense political pressure to reverse the decision to ban away fans from Villa Park for the Europa League match on November 6.

A statement from Maccabi Tel Aviv read: "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."

Just hours before, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy had announced that the government would provide limitless resources to ensure fans would be allowed to attend.

Supporters had been told that they were effectively banned from the football match after a decision by Birmingham's Safety Advisory Group (SAG).

The group is made up of local "stakeholders", including representatives from the council, police and event organisers.

They revealed that they had made their decision based on a 'high risk' of violence based on "current intelligence and previous incidents".

Maccabi Tel Aviv added that the club believed that "football should be about bringing people together not driving them apart" and that it had "been working tirelessly to stamp out racism within the more extreme elements of our fan base".

But the statement continued: "Unfortnately those issues are not restricted to Israeli football, and they are problems the sport has been grappling worldwide including in the UK.

"As a result of the hate-filled falsehoods, a toxic atmosphere has been created which makes the safety of our fans wishing to attend very much in doubt.

"Inflammatory rhetoric, trafficking in half-truths is never healthy, but in this particular case the remarks being generated are of the most concerning variety.

"Not for Maccabi Tel Aviv or football, but for the sake of society and its underlying values, maybe the agendas involved here should be looked at more closely.

"We hope that circumstances will change and look forward to being able to play in Birmingham in a sporting environment in the near future."

Following the news, a Government spokesman said it was "completely unacceptable" that the fixture had been "weaponised".

"The Government has been working around the clock to defend a basic principle – that football fans should be able to enjoy a game without fear of intimidation or violence," he said.

"We are deeply saddened Maccabi Tel Aviv have turned down their away fan allocation but we respect their right to do so.

"It is completely unacceptable that this game has been weaponised to stoke violence and fear by those who seek to divide us. 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 decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from supporting their club at Villa Park caused outrage in Britain - just weeks after a terrorist attack at a synagogue in Manchester.

The decision was made partly due to the clashes that happened between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv fans in Amsterdam last year in the Europa League.

However, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch both disagreed with the decision, with the latter describing it as a "national disgrace".

On Sunday, Maccabi's match against local rivals Hapoel Tel Aviv was cancelled after violence broke out between the fans.

Israeli police announced that there were "violent riots" that led to nine people being arrested at Bloomfield Stadium, a ground shared by both clubs.