The China Mail - Maccabi Tel Aviv to decline tickets for European tie at Aston Villa

The local Safety Advisory Group (SAG) covering Villa Park in Birmingham, central England, last week blocked visiting fans from attending the November 6 match following a police risk assessment.

That decision drew widespread political criticism, including UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, with widespread calls for the ruling to be reversed.

The British government said Friday it was working to allow Israeli fans to be present.

But a statement on the Maccabi Tel Aviv website said: "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 announcement came only a day after Israeli police called off the Israeli Premier League match between Maccabi and city rivals Hapoel because of "riots" between rival fans.

Maccabi insisted their supporters were not involved in the unrest

Maccabi Tel Aviv's atatement questioned the motivation of those leading calls for a ban on away fans.

"We acknowledge the efforts of the UK government and police to ensure both sets of fans can attend the match safely, and are grateful for the messages of support from across the footballing community and society at large," said the club.

"Our first-team squad consists of Muslims, Christian and Jewish players and our fan base also crosses the ethnic and religious divide. We have also been working tirelessly to stamp out racism within the more extreme elements of our fan base."

- 'Toxic atmosphere' -

The statement added: "It is clear that various entrenched groups seek to malign the Maccabi Tel Aviv fan base, most of whom have no truck with racism or hooliganism of any kind, and are exploiting isolated incidents for their own social and political ends.

"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."

Earlier, Britain's Culture, Media and Sport Secretary Lisa Nandy told the House of Commons the final decision must ultimately be made by the police.

However, she also said the country "should be appalled" that the initial assessment was "based in no small part on the risk posed to those fans that are attending who support Maccabi because they are Israeli, and because they are Jewish".

West Midlands Police last week classified the fixture as "high risk".

They said the decision was "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".

Birmingham has been the scene of pro-Palestinian rallies since the Gaza war between Israel and Hamas began.

A number of British left-wing independent and Green politicians backed the ban, with some calling for the wider exclusion of Israeli teams from international competitions due to the government's actions in Gaza.

Earlier this month, two Jewish men died in an attack on a synagogue in Manchester, England, that police linked to Islamist extremism.

L.Kwan--ThChM