West Midlands Police made 11 arrests as a part of their operation at Aston Villa’s Europa League fixture with Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Final month, Maccabi Tel Aviv followers had been banned from attending Thursday’s match at Villa Park because of security issues, which drew rapid criticism from politicians, together with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. The Israeli membership later mentioned in a press release they wouldn’t promote tickets to their followers for the match.
The choice to ban supporters was primarily based on issues from West Midlands Police about its means to take care of potential protests referring to the struggle in Gaza.
Eleven folks, all males or boys, had been arrested within the space:
- A 63-year-old man arrested for a racially aggravated public order offence after he was heard shouting racist abuse throughout a street rage incident close to Villa Park
- A 21-year-old man arrested after refusing to take away a face overlaying whereas a Part 60 order was in place
- A 17-year-old who was issued with a dispersal order however refused to go away
- A 34-year-old arrested on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence after shouting abuse in direction of pro-Israel demonstrators
- A 29-year-old man arrested on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence after shouting abuse in direction of pro-Israel demonstrators. He was additionally arrested for possession of sophistication B medication
- A 67-year-old man arrested on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence after shouting racist abuse at a police officer
- A 32-year-old man arrested on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence after shouting racist abuse in direction of a pro-Palestine group
- A person aged 21 arrested after making an attempt to throw fireworks into the bottom
- A person arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to produce medication.
Greater than 700 cops from 25 forces had been on responsibility at Villa Park with police horses, police canine and a drone unit a part of the operation, with protests by totally different teams going down.
Police briefed the match officers on contingency plans if any spectators entered the sector of play in the course of the sport.
Earlier than the match, round 200 protesters together with members of the Palestine Solidarity Marketing campaign gathered close to Villa Park’s Trinity Highway stand to demand Israel is excluded from worldwide soccer.
Palestinian flags and banners calling for a boycott of Israel had additionally been positioned on the bottom beside Trinity Highway amid pro-Palestinian chants.
5 flatbed automobiles had been pushed previous the bottom previous to kick-off carrying digital billboards displaying messages opposing antisemitism.
One of many messages, beside a Star of David, learn “Ban hatred not fans” whereas one other carried a quote from Thierry Henry saying soccer is just not about targets however bringing folks collectively.
Round 40 protesters, one carrying an Israeli flag, and others carrying posters saying “keep antisemitism out of football”, gathered on a basketball court docket on Witton Lane, near the Doug Ellis Stand, to listen to varied audio system oppose the ban on Maccabi followers.
The Revd Tim Gutmann, founding father of Christian Motion Towards Antisemitism, instructed the group that the protest was towards “an ancient hate and an ancient evil that hasn’t stopped, and has again risen in our time”.
Holding up a placard saying “Never Again Is Now”, he added: “As a Christian it’s important for me to be here to show that we stand with our fight and stop the hate.
“These are big moments for a nation. We can not have no-go zones for Israeli soccer followers. We won’t have no-go zones for Jewish folks.”
Villa supporter Adam Selway arrived for the match wearing a half-and-half scarf in the colours of the home side and Maccabi Tel Aviv.
The 48-year-old said he was not making any political statement, felt sympathy with fans unable to attend and simply wanted to watch a football match.
“It is not about politics, it is about soccer,” he said. “It is not the Villa followers that do not need anybody right here – the Villa followers need the away followers right here.”
Who decided to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans?
Aston Villa’s statement said the decision to ban away supporters from Villa Park “follows an instruction” from Birmingham’s Safety Advisory Group (SAG), based on the advice of West Midlands Police.
Safety Advisory Groups are responsible for issuing safety certificates for matches.
However, according to the Health and Safety Executive government website, Safety Advisory Groups are “non-statutory our bodies and so should not have authorized powers or tasks, and are usually not empowered to approve or prohibit occasions from going down”.
The website adds: “Occasion organisers and others concerned within the working of an occasion retain the principal authorized duties for making certain public security”.
The UK Football Policing Unit (UKFPU) was also involved in advising on the decision.
“The UKFPU supported West Midlands Police in getting access to the complete particulars of the earlier incidents in Amsterdam through the European policing community so they’d all of the related data accessible to them,” it said in a statement.
“Following this, the House Workplace had been briefed final week by the UKFPU in regards to the potential points and choices that the Security Advisory Group (SAG) could take together with restrictions on visiting followers.”
Why did Maccabi Tel Aviv refuse to sell away fans tickets?
Maccabi said in a statement: “The well-being and security of our followers is paramount and, from onerous classes realized, we now have taken the choice to say no any allocation provided on behalf of away followers, and our choice must 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.”
The assertion questioned the motives of these in search of to justify the ban.
“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 and society at large,” mentioned the membership.
“Our first-team squad consists of Muslims, Christian and Jewish players and our fan base also crosses the ethnic and religious divide. We have also been working tirelessly to stamp out racism within the more extreme elements of our fan base.
“It’s clear that varied entrenched teams search to malign the Maccabi Tel Aviv fan base, most of whom don’t have any truck with racism or hooliganism of any form, and are exploiting remoted incidents for their very own social and political ends.
“As a result of the hate-filled falsehoods, a toxic atmosphere has been created, which makes the safety of our fans wishing to attend very much in doubt.”
