Lisa Nandy slammed MPs who suggested that all of the club’s fans, who have been banned from attending an upcoming match against Aston Villa, were hooligans
October 21, 2025 10:13
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has suggested that one of the MPs backing the ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans attending an upcoming game against Aston Villa may be “behaving in a way that is antisemitic”.
In a debate following an Urgent Question on the decision to prohibit Maccabi supporters from the match at Villa Park next month, Dewsbury and Batley MP Iqbal Mohamed attacked what he described as the “conflation of antisemitism with the banning of football hooligans who happen to come from Israel, and the abuse that I and other people have received for supporting the ban on safety grounds”.
"I must put on the record that I and those people are not antisemitic,” he added, before continuing: “Was it antisemitic for the Israeli police to cancel a football derby in Tel Aviv last night after those same hooligans forced the match to stop through violence and injury to fans and the police?”.
Israeli police called off Sunday’s match after “violent riots” broke out around the stadium. Maccabi has insisted that its fans were not involved, while rivals Hapoel Tel Aviv have accused police of “brutal” treatment.
Nandy hit back at Mohamed, saying that the pro-Gaza independent “reveals himself in the language he uses”.
“He refers to the ‘banning of football hooligans’ and specifically to violent football hooligans, but this is not a decision to ban football hooligans; it is a decision to ban all away fans from a game, which a Safety Advisory Group has not done in this country for nearly 25 years.
"It was a decision taken, not on the grounds that he suggests, which was the risk posed by Maccabi Tel Aviv fans; it was a decision taken in no small part because of the risk posed to them because they support an Israeli team and because they are Jewish.”
She went on: “I would gently say to him that if he is conflating everybody who supports an Israeli team – the vast majority of whom by definition will be Jewish – with violent football hooligans, he should consider whether he can really stand in front of this House and say that he is not behaving in a way that is antisemitic.”
Earlier in the debate, Nandy also clashed with former Labour MP Zarah Sultana, now sitting as an independent, who argued that “Maccabi Tel Aviv’s racist fan hooliganism cannot be separated from Israeli militarism”.
Sultana added that “many of these fans are active or former soldiers who have taken part in Israel’s genocide in Gaza [who] should be investigated for war crimes the moment they set foot on British soil, not welcomed into our stadiums”, before accusing the government of defending “the genocidal apartheid state of Israel”.
Nandy replied that Sultana was “doing the people of Birmingham no favours with that sort of rhetoric”.
She rejected the conflation between fans of the Israeli team and the actions of the Israeli government as well as her apparent blaming of “British citizens who happen to support Maccabi Tel Aviv for actions that are taking place in the Middle East”.
“I have to say that conflating being Jewish and being Israeli is in itself antisemitism. I think she should take more care with her remarks”, the culture secretary concluded.
But several left-wing Labour MPs also supported the decision to ban Maccabi fans.
Leeds East MP Richard Burgon said: “Is it not the case that the police, acting on intelligence, believe that Maccabi fans should not be allowed to attend the match for public safety reasons?
"Their record of hooliganism will have contributed to that. Such bans have happened with fans of other teams across Europe, yet in this case there has been a dangerous push to once again claim that any criticism of Israel is antisemitic.”
He added: “Should the government not just admit that they have it badly wrong on this and let the police do their job without political interference? Surely the real issue here is the right of local people to be kept safe.”
Nandy rejected Burgon’s suggestions, saying: “The difference in this case is that what has tipped the balance of the decision is the risk presented to Maccabi Tel Aviv fans because they are Israeli and, in many cases, because they are British and Jewish.”
However, despite vocal opposition from some MPs, most parties expressed outrage at the ban, with shadow culture secretary Nigel Huddlestone labelling it “embarrassing and a disgrace”.
“Have we really reached the point where we cannot welcome visitors from overseas to our second city, because we cannot guarantee their safety on British streets and in British football grounds? This is not how modern Britain should present itself to the world.”
The Conservative frontbencher also condemned the role played by some MPs in whipping up division: “Some astoundingly, including some in this House, have claimed that the ban on Israeli fans is for their own safety. That safety has been put at risk precisely because of the anger and hatred being whipped up by some of those very same people demanding a ban, such as by equating football fans with terrorists. We cannot give in to that kind of rhetoric”.
The point was echoed by Reform UK’s Danny Kruger, who told the Commons: “What has happened is that a political campaign – led, I am ashamed to say, by Members of this House – has caused the police to change their decision and calculation.”
Lib Dem spokesperson Ann Sabine added: “The decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending their team’s Europa League match because West Midlands police could not keep the fans safe is a serious mistake, and sets a dangerous precedent”.
Meanwhile, on Monday night, Maccabi Tel Aviv announced that it would not be taking up any allocation of tickets to them should the decision be reversed.
“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. We hope that circumstances will change and look forward to being able to play in Birmingham in a sporting environment in the near future”, the club said in a lengthy statement.
A government spokesperson responded that they were “saddened” by the club's decision but “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”, they added.
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