Maccabi Tel Aviv football club banned

Surely it’s not one sided Babs?

Exposing the desire and incitement to violence where it exists is balanced, isn’t it?

www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/maccabi-fans-filmed-chanting-racist-slogans-against-arabs-upon-arrival-at-ben-gurion-from-amsterdam/

The Maccabi fans are not victims, they are more than capable of starting trouble and fighting any opposition, with horrible chants about raping Palestinian women and about dead Palestinian children. So of course the cry ‘show no mercy’ is horrible, but let’s not assume the Maccabi fans are not ready and able to spout their own vile venom in return.
This one sided version of things is risible.

Lathyrus3

You said yourself that it’s about maintaining public order.

About both the fans and the protesters who intend to gather if the game goes ahead. Whether there are fans f any kind allowed or not..

The issue is not about football fans from Israel or anywhere abroad. It is about a powerful protest group who have ensured their desires are met through the threat of force that the police cannot manage.

Today the Israelis. Tomorrow………?

I’m also agreeing with Oreo. Yes, Maccabi fans have an awful reputation but police can manage that if they have the right resources. Add to the mix the potential for fights if anti Israeli groups arrive. The comment about showing no mercy shiukd not be ignored, an incitement to violence

Maccabi have made the right decision to reject tickets to the game at Aston villa. They know that some of the fans are disruptive and violent
and they didn't want any more problems than they have already.

I agree that the labour government have shown cowardice over this issue.
The safety and well being of the British public should be thier first concern but clearly isn't.

Back to Starmer's involvement.
We all let our opinions be known on GN, fair enough, but we're not running the country. My feeling is that Starmer really should keep his nose out of things like this. It isn't the first time either. He really doesn't do himself any favours with what he comes out with as knee-jerk reactions. Why does he do it, only to get eggs on his face? It sort of shows a lack of judgment and turns him into a bit of a Trump behaviour wise. I'd advise him that less is more when it comes to jumping into any fray.
Have we heard from him?

Babs03

The police force are obviously investigating the recent hooliganism after the Tel Aviv derby when the match was stopped due to violent behaviour by Maccabi fans and the opposing team’s fans. It was quite horrendous and obviously the police want any info/intel that will help them make a decision with regard to allowing Maccabi fans to attend the Aston Villa match. It could even be the case that Israeli police will promise to detain the main ringleaders and perpetrators of the violence in order to allow other fans to go to the match and UK police are making sure this happens.
Quite extraordinary lengths to go to, have never seen this before and I come from a football mad family. It certainly smacks of appeasement rather than an investigation.

I agree. It's extraordinary. It shows what lengths the government will go to to cover its back. I know somebody who lives, breathes and eats football and he's never known anything like this attempt to let hooligans follow a team - it's usually the opposite.

Allsorts

Dont understand above post. How is it distorting reality about what happened in Holland. Surely it's best you avoid violence, I want my family to enjoy a match and come home safely. Villa is our team , they should make the decision along with the police.

My interpretation is that the Maccabi management have taken a responsible decision and have refused to accept an away allocation of tickets. They didn't want to lose face, so they've framed it as looking after the safety of their fans and not acknowledging their fans' role in causing trouble. I think that's OK because what they're really doing is trying to sort out the problems themselves. Other teams are further along the road and have identified individual troublemakers, so can target those whom they ban.

Lisa Nandy has gone right down in my estimation. I know her parliamentary seat is threatened by Reform, but what she said was cowardice (IMO). She is giving in to a false narrative and I'm very glad that Maccabi has made the announcement it has.

Dont understand above post. How is it distorting reality about what happened in Holland. Surely it's best you avoid violence, I want my family to enjoy a match and come home safely. Villa is our team , they should make the decision along with the police.

Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv say they will not accept any ticket allocation from Aston Villa should the decision to ban their supporters from next month's Europa League match be overturned.
The Safety Advisory Group (SAG) - the body responsible for issuing safety certificates for matches - informed Villa no travelling fans would be permitted at the match in Birmingham last week.
The decision was widely condemned, with Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy pledging that the government will "find the resources" to allow Maccabi fans to attend earlier on Monday.
But Maccabi Tel Aviv now say supporters will not travel for safety reasons.
A club statement said, external: "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."
On Thursday, West Midlands Police said it had classified the fixture as "high risk" based on current intelligence and previous incidents, including "violent clashes and hate crime offences" between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv fans before a match in Amsterdam, in November 2024.
Nandy said ministers were working together to fund any necessary policing operation to allow away fans to attend, and the SAG would review the decision if West Midlands Police changed its risk assessment.
Nandy said the matter was wider than matchday security, adding it came "against the backdrop of rising antisemitism here and across the world, and an attack on a synagogue in Manchester in which two innocent men were killed".
On Sunday, the Israeli Premier League derby between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Tel Aviv was cancelled before kick-off, after what police described as "public disorder and violent riots".
Maccabi say the decision to call that game off was not down to their supporters and thanked the UK government for its efforts.
They said: "We believe that football should be about bringing people together not driving them apart.
"Our fans regularly travel all over Europe without incident and to suggest that the reason our fans cannot be allowed to travel is due to their behaviour is an attempt to distort reality.
"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."
Aston Villa previously told their matchday stewards they did not have to work at the Maccabi Tel Aviv fixture, saying they understood some "may have concerns".
Following Thursday's announcement by the club about the impending fixture, Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the move "wrong" and said: "We will not tolerate antisemitism on our streets."
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Still it would be excellent if they could identify and prevent the “hooligan” element from coming.

And we could prevent our troublemakers from gathering too.

Ah, gathering information not investigating in the formal sense of a police investigation.

I don’t think they have the authority to make the Israeli police promise anything 🤔

The police force are obviously investigating the recent hooliganism after the Tel Aviv derby when the match was stopped due to violent behaviour by Maccabi fans and the opposing team’s fans. It was quite horrendous and obviously the police want any info/intel that will help them make a decision with regard to allowing Maccabi fans to attend the Aston Villa match. It could even be the case that Israeli police will promise to detain the main ringleaders and perpetrators of the violence in order to allow other fans to go to the match and UK police are making sure this happens.
Quite extraordinary lengths to go to, have never seen this before and I come from a football mad family. It certainly smacks of appeasement rather than an investigation.

Maremia

UK Police to investigate recent football violence in Tel Aviv.

I don’t understand that.

UK police to carry out an investigation in another country.

Have the Israeli police force requested their help?

UK Police to investigate recent football violence in Tel Aviv.

But that’s exactly the West Midlands police reaction! Presumably now being told they have to step up and manage it.
Given extra resources to do so.

Public order issues are always relevant.So disrespectful to imply that about Police reaction.

Israeli police are just controlling/cancelling matches between Israeli teams , just as could happen here if necessary say between Celtic and Rangers or Spurs and Arsenal.They aren’t banning British fans going there.
Is the concept really so hard to understand , that this is about visiting Israelis.
Any big group of Israelis or any big group of Jews visiting Aston or anywhere around Birmingham, London, Bradford, Bury, Blackburn and so on would bring about huge protests that the police would groan about security and say they couldn’t manage it.
Football is irrelevant IMO.

Aston has a big Bangladeshi population - about 80% I think - but cannot envisage any trouble from them as they have been Brummies for a long time and are not looking for trouble.
I will be surprised to see any real local problem unless the Pro-Palastine faction are mobilised.
The police will be out in force and I doubt any troublemakers will get near Villa Park.

Israeli Police are allowed to cancel but British police may not?

X posts Lathyrus3

AGAA4 anyone else and there wouldn’t have been locals and others just dying to have a pop at the Israeli fans.
The principle of excluding the fans was all wrong.The police were understandably worried about violence but certainly not all as a result of football fans.They were also appeasing local minorities.

Anyone else snd there would only have been fans to manage and then the decision would have been based on that.

It’s because pro Palestine protesters turned it into a political protest that the decision was taken.

The police gave the assessment that it was not safe to invite Maccabi fans but because they are Israelis they can come. Anyone else and nothing would have been said.
I hope they take full responsibility for any people injured or property damaged. The reason they are sending more resources is because they do fear a riot.
I still believe this is political. The government don't usually get involved in football matches .

AGAA4

That's just your opinion of the real reason Oreo.
Why would the police issue a ban on these fans without good reason. Are you saying the police and Aston Villa are antisemitic and that's the only reason they have been banned?

You didn’t read my posts then? It’s nothing to do with either the club or the police being antisemitic.
It’s to do with both the club (and really) the police thinking they can’t manage things if those not interested in football gather around Villa Park to have a go at Israeli Jews because of Gaza.
You’ve already read I suppose about an Imam saying ‘show them no mercy’?