He made the comments on Thursday evening
Sir Keir Starmer has responded to the decision by West Midlands Police to ban fans of Israeli football club Maccabi Tel Aviv from attending their upcoming fixture against Aston Villa in Birmingham.
Earlier on Thursday evening, reports emerged that the police force had chosen to prohibit Israeli fans from travelling to their Europa League fixture at Villa Park on November 6th over safety concerns.
In a statement, Birmingham City Council’s Safety Advisory Group and West Midlands Police said the upcoming fixture had been classified as high risk due to “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”.
The 2024 fixture between Maccabi and Ajax saw a series of violent clashes break out between fans of the Tel Aviv club and pro-Palestinian demonstrators, in which more than sixty people were detained and five were given prison sentences.
Despite the potential risk posed by protests, Keir Starmer has responded to the plan to ban away fans from attending, calling it “the wrong decision.”
Taking to X, the Labour leader added: “We will not tolerate antisemitism on our streets. The role of the police is to ensure all football fans can enjoy the game, without fear of violence or intimidation.”
The decision has also been condemned by a number of the UK’s Jewish leaders and Europe’s governing body UEFA.
UEFA’s statement reads: “Uefa wants fans to be able to travel and support their team in a safe, secure and welcoming environment, and encourages both teams and the competent authorities to agree on the implementation of appropriate measures necessary to allow this to happen.”
British government ministers plan to meet later on Friday where they hope to establish “a way through” to allow Maccabi fans to attend.
The dilemma comes amongst growing calls for both Israel’s national team and its sporting clubs to be banned from international competitions.
In September a UN-backed panel said “sports must reject the perception that it is business as usual,” by banning Israel from competing on the world stage over accusations it was at that time believed to be committing genocide in Gaza.
In the weeks since that statement was made, a ceasefire has been agreed between Hamas and Israel that has led to a cessation in fighting and the release of hostages and prisoners on both sides.
