FLASH
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The decision to ban the transfer of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans to Birmingham for the match between the Israeli team and Aston Villa in the Europa League continues to be discussed in the United Kingdom.
According to the Middle East Eye, West Midlands Police are investigating Maccabi fans following a report from Amsterdam. In the report, Dutch police warned that more than 200 fans of the Israeli team had links to the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and that 500-600 fans who traveled to Amsterdam in November 2024 were experienced fighters, highly organized and intent on causing a lot of violence. The incidents in the Dutch capital at that time saw clashes, destruction and images of the city in flames.
The controversy was reignited when the British government described the ban on the transfer of Israeli fans as an anti-Semitic measure. The Minister for Culture, Media and Sport, Lisa Nandy, told parliament that this measure had to do with the simple fact that the fans were Israeli and Jewish. But the police contacted by the daily 'The Guardian' refuted this report. The document stressed that the decision was based exclusively on the high risk of violence, underlining that the group of fans under investigation had no problem at all confronting the police and that they had also been protagonists in other clashes in different countries.
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn strongly criticized the British government's position, saying it distorted this issue of public safety for political gain and lied to the British people. Independent MP Ayoub Khan also intervened, supporting the decision to ban the transfer of Maccabi fans and denouncing that he had received threats for this reason.
Meanwhile, in Amsterdam, the municipality decided to ban Maccabi fans from the capital after violent episodes last year. Meanwhile, for this Thursday's match between Aston Villa and Maccabi Tel Aviv, 700 police forces are expected to be deployed due to the announced pro-Palestinian protests with demonstrators who consider the presence of the Israeli club in competitions unacceptable due to the situation in Gaza where genocide has been committed. According to West Midlands Police, the incidents in Amsterdam also recorded the act of tearing the Palestinian flag, singing anti-Arab songs and carrying out selective aggressions, which further increased the fear of a guerrilla war on British streets if Israeli fans traveled to England.
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