Villa warn fans against political messaging at Maccabi Tel Aviv game

Aston Villa have warned fans against breaking Uefa rules relating to “the displaying of political symbols, messages or flags” during next month’s Europa League match against Maccabi Tel Aviv.

In ticketing guidance announced on Tuesday, the Premier League club said doing so was “strictly prohibited and will result in immediate ejection and the issuing of a stadium ban”.

It comes after Maccabi Tel Aviv said they would decline any ticket allocation from Aston Villa over safety concerns, despite the UK government saying it was working to have a controversial ban on the Israeli club’s fans reversed.

The decision was widely condemned, with the government saying it would fund any necessary policing operation to allow Maccabi’s fans to attend.

Villa have now announced their ticketing policy for the match, insisting that only supporters with a purchase history prior to this season will be able to access a ticket.

The club also said they will not be selling tickets in what will be a vacant away end, and warned against supporters reselling their tickets.

Last week it emerged Villa previously told their matchday stewards they did not have to work at the fixture, saying they understood that some “may have concerns”.

On Thursday, West Midlands Police said it had classified the fixture as “high risk” based on intelligence and previous incidents, including “violent clashes and hate crime offences that occurred during the 2024 Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Amsterdam”.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was one of many politicians who condemned the move, and called for the ban to be overturned.

However, the UK Football Policing Unit said it was “important that we respect and support the structures in place for making these decisions”, while the Fare Network, which reports on discrimination for Uefa, told the Press Association that it was “reluctant to question” the police risk assessment.

On Monday, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said the ban was “wrong” and had come “against the backdrop of rising antisemitism here and across the world”, adding that the SAG would review the decision if West Midlands Police changed its risk assessment.

But a few hours later Maccabi Tel Aviv said they would decline any ticket allocation, claiming “a toxic atmosphere has been created which makes the safety of our fans wishing to attend very much in doubt”.

The club also insisted that the abandonment of the Tel Aviv derby against Hapoel Tel Aviv on Sunday, over what the police called “public disorder and violent riots”, was not down to their supporters.

“We have also been working tirelessly to stamp out racism within the more extreme elements of our fanbase,” added a Maccabi Tel Aviv statement.

“Unfortunately, those issues are not restricted to Israeli football and are problems the sport has been grappling worldwide, including in the UK.

“It is clear, that various entrenched groups seek to malign the Maccabi Tel Aviv fanbase…and are exploiting isolated incidents for their own social and political ends.”

A UK government spokesperson said it was “deeply saddened”, adding it was “completely unacceptable” that the match has been “weaponised to stoke violence and fear by those who seek to divide us”.

Independent MP Ayoub Khan, whose Birmingham Perry Barr constituency is home to Villa Park, has said Maccabi fans should be excluded for hooliganism – adding on social media that Sir Keir Starmer owed an apology to West Midlands Police.

Aston Villa’s warning is proof that even with Maccabi declining any tickets, the stakes remain high before one of the most highly politicised matches English football will have seen.

There will still be intense scrutiny on the local authorities’ handling of the club’s visit to Villa Park, in a year where protests have regularly accompanied sports events involving Israeli teams.

Over recent days, local safety officials in Birmingham had come under mounting pressure to reverse their hugely controversial decision to ban the away fans.

Maccabi’s surprise move has taken the decision out of their hands, removing the need for any U-turn later this week and avoiding the potential for an escalating dispute with the government.

But there will now be questions over what intelligence the ban of Maccabi’s fans was based on, and whether the controversy could have been avoided.

For those reluctant to question West Midlands Police’s original assessment that the fixture was “high risk”, this development may well come as a major relief.

But others will see it as highly regrettable, and embarrassing to the UK, that Maccabi Tel Aviv do not feel it is safe enough for their fans to attend the match, and that it sets a worrying precedent.