British police are deploying more than 700 officers in Birmingham, where local football club Aston Villa will host Israeli side Maccabi Tel Aviv in the UEFA Europa League three weeks after the home team’s decision to bar travelling supporters from attending the match due to threats of violence.
The group-stage match between Villa and Maccabi in the second-tier European competition will kick off at 20:00 GMT on Thursday, and a heavy police presence is expected around the stadium, in the city centre and surrounding areas.
“We know protests by different groups will take place on the day, and we have plans in place which balance the right to protest with our duty to protect all communities in Birmingham,” Chief Superintendent of West Midlands police Tom Joyce said on the morning of the fixture.
“People not attending the event should expect significant disruption to the roads in the area on the evening, and we’d urge people to avoid the area where possible.”
Various pro-Palestine groups, including Game Over Israel, the Hind Rajab Foundation and Health Workers 4 Palestine plan to oppose the visit of the club in the wake of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, which has killed at least 68,875 Palestinians.
Palestinian flags and banners calling for Israel’s removal from FIFA have been placed on bridges above the main motorway connecting Aston to central Birmingham.
The decision to bar Maccabi fans from attending the match was announced by Villa on October 16 after West Midlands police raised public safety concerns about potential protests.
They deemed the match at Villa Park to be high risk and cited violence and hate crimes that took place when Maccabi Tel Aviv played at Ajax in Amsterdam last season. More than 60 people were arrested as a result of the clashes.
The move also came after protests broke out at the Israeli national team’s FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Norway and Italy in October, with police using tear gas on protesters and pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Oslo and Udine.
Villa said they were following instructions from the Safety Advisory Group (SAG), who are responsible for issuing safety certificates for games at Villa Park, based on a number of physical and safety factors.
“West Midlands Police have advised the SAG that they have public safety concerns outside the stadium bowl and the ability to deal with any potential protests on the night,” the club said.
This Thursday will see us mount a large policing operation, as Aston Villa take on Maccabi Tel Aviv at Villa Park.
Find out more about our work to keep everyone safe 👉 https://t.co/5UiRo7FGPU pic.twitter.com/tPYQqB21g1
‘Recipe for disaster’
Football expert Nicholas Blincoe believes the threat of riots also stemmed from the “racist” history of Maccabi fans.
“These [Maccabi] ultras have become increasingly right-wing nationalistic and explicitly racist,” he told Al Jazeera.
“Their chants are appalling – chants about death to Arabs, chants about death to Palestinian children.”
He termed Maccabi a “proudly racist football team” and said they had left behind fellow Israeli club Beitar Jerusalem, according to anti-racism organisation Kick Racism Out of Football.
Blincoe, author of the book More Noble Than War: A Soccer History of Israel Palestine, explained that hosting Maccabi fans would have caused several logistical problems for local authorities, as the fans would not fly directly from Israel to Birmingham.
After landing in London from Israel, the fans would have to take trains to Birmingham and onwards to Aston Villa.
“This was an absolute recipe for disaster,” Blincoe said.
“They can’t police 190 miles [305 kilometres] of train tracks. The situation is so unpredictable and threatens riots of several days, similar to what we saw in Amsterdam, and this is why the police came down on the side of extreme caution.”
The ban attracted widespread criticism, including from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who said it was the wrong decision, but Blincoe termed Starmer’s decision to wade into the argument “inexplicable”.
Earlier last month, Aston Villa urged supporters not to display political symbols, messages or flags during the match.
The club warned fans against contravening protocols issued by UEFA, the governing body of European football, banning the display of political messages inside stadiums.
