Police must explain ‘lamentable’ decisions over Maccabi-Villa match, say politicians

Last night, West Midland’s Police Chief Superintendent Tom Joyce, the commander for Birmingham policing, said in an interview that the force had learnt that a “sub-section” of Maccabi fans “engage in quite significant levels of hooliganism”, and it was this concern “exclusively” that led the force to bar all supporters of the Israeli side. This contrasted with earlier indications from the force that the ban had been imposed because Israeli fans could not be protected in the city.

In an interview with Sky News yesterday, Joyce said: "We are simply trying to make decisions based on community safety, driven by the intelligence that was available to us and our assessment of the risk that was coming from admitting travelling fans.

He continued: "We have intelligence and information that says that there is a section of Maccabi fans, not all Maccabi fans, but a section who engage in quite significant levels of hooliganism.”

"What is probably quite unique in these circumstances is where as often hooligans will clash with other hooligans and it will be contained within the football fan base.

"We've had examples where a section of Maccabi fans were targeting people not involved in football matches, and certainly we had an incident in Amsterdam last year which has informed some of our decision-making.

"So it is exclusively a decision we made on the basis of the behaviour of a sub-section of Maccabi fans, but all the reaction that could occur obviously formed part of that as well."

Lord Walney rejected this new claim outright, saying it “does not fit with the clear evidence of sustained pressure from individuals and organisations driven by hatred of Israel and Jews”, and that the decision to ban Maccabi fans had brought “shame” on the UK.

“The disgusting antisemitic rhetoric outside Villa Park yesterday proved that this was never about Maccabi Tel Aviv – it is driven by an unhinged hatred of the Jewish State,” he said.

"West Midlands Police’s new assertion that the Maccabi fans were banned solely because of the threat of hooliganism does not fit with the clear evidence of sustained pressure from individuals and organisations driven by hatred of Israel and Jews.

"The force’s eleventh-hour attempt to pin the blame on the Israeli fans themselves smacks of victim blaming and leaves officers with serious questions to answer.

"West Midlands Police must comply with the Home Affairs Committee’s demand to submit all evidence related to this lamentable decision that has brought shame on the country.”

Former Conservative MP Sir Michael, who served as attorney general in 2022, heaped further pressure on the force, saying: “West Midlands Police have some questions to answer.

“The fact that Parliament’s Home Affairs Committee has written to demand transparent answers from the police suggests serious concerns remain about the police decisions in the Maccabi case.

“There are grave doubts in many quarters over whether it was politicised lobbying which led to the decision to ban Israelis from Birmingham. What happened in the disorder in Amsterdam was explored in the Dutch courts and the West Midlands Police claims about Israeli football fans are not universally accepted.

“It’s about time the police started to back up their claims with some evidence.”

Nadhim Zahawi, who served in ministerial roles under four Conservative prime ministers from 2018 to 2023, also hit out the force, saying: “I think the words of West Midlands Police are weasel words. This is antisemitic. It is not just anti-Israeli – it is anti-Jewish.”

He continued: “I find this utterly disgraceful. The police presence tonight tells you everything because they’re worried about the Maccabi team being attacked, that’s why they’re there, and I think they need to apologise to British Jews [and] to Israelis, because this would not happen if this team was not supported by Israelis and Jewish people.”

Israel’s ambassador to the UK, Daniela Grudsky, attended the match along with peer, former Labour MP and JC director Ian Austin, a long-time Villa fan.

Responding to a report that local schools had been forced to close early because of the match, Austin said: “Local politicians and community leaders should be doing everything they can to improve education in areas like Aston and Lozells, not inflaming tensions and calling for boycotts, bans and protests that result in schools being closed early. What a disgrace.”

Grudsky posted an image of herself and Austin, thanking him for his part in making sure “that sport isn’t hijacked but is a bridge between us.”

Hundreds of protesters demonstrated around Aston Villa’s stadium before and during the match. Supporters of the Israeli side were confined to a caged basketball court by police.

A heavy police presence was deployed across the city, with more than 700 officers on duty for the Europa League game, and a patrol of 50 around Birmingham’s synagogues and mosques.

Eleven people – all men or boys – were arrested, six of them before kick-off, West Midlands Police announced.

Two men were arrested in connection with abuse shouted at pro-Israel demonstrators, while another man was detained over abuse directed at a pro-Palestine group.

Other arrests were made on suspicion of drug offences, breach of the peace, racist abuse of a police officer, failure to comply with an order to remove a face mask, and allegedly attempting to throw fireworks into the stadium.

The Maccabi team arrived at Villa Park five hours before the fixture, which ended in a 2–0 victory for the home side.

Chief Superintendent Joyce said the game had been “one of the most contentious and controversial matches we've hosted for some time”.