Owing to safety concerns
How to deal with anti-Semitism: tell the Jews to get out.
Fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv will not be allowed to attend the Europa League match at Aston Villa on 6 November owing to safety concerns.
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 that occurred during the 2024 Uefa Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Amsterdam”.
The police said it believed the measure would “help mitigate risks to public safety” and that it remained “steadfast in our support of all affected communities, and reaffirm our zero-tolerance stance on hate crime in all its forms”.
I think you’ll find that telling Jews they are banned from a football match is itself a hate crime.
The move was condemned by the prime minister, Keir Starmer, who said: “This is the wrong decision. We will not tolerate antisemitism on our streets. The role of the police is to ensure all football fans can enjoy the game, without fear of violence or intimidation.”
The Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, said the decision was a “national disgrace” and urged Starmer to reverse it.
The Israeli foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, posted on X: “Shameful decision! I call on the UK authorities to reverse this coward decision!” The Palestine Solidarity Campaign said the match should be cancelled, writing on X: “Israeli football teams shouldn’t play in international tournaments whilst it commits genocide and apartheid.”
The Independent MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, Ayoub Khan, said: “I welcome the Safety Advisory Group’s decision. With so much hostility and uncertainty around the match, it was only right to take drastic measures.”
Drastic measures against the Jews, that is.
Football, religion, and race: what a brew.
Jews and women – when any problem arises from people hating them, just tell them to stay home.
How will they know which fans are there for the Israeli team? Will they be check papers at the gate? If security is of such concern to the authorities, cancel the match, or close it to all spectators.
Putting the hammer down on Maccabi Tel Aviv? That’s ironic.
It’s probably blue and yellow scarves and hats. Though they could be arming ushers with calipers to measure noses.
Or checking for foreskins.
Football crowds are segregated by team. You either have a ticket for the home end or the away end.
is that an absolute? Wouldn’t it be possible for a determined fan to buy a ticket for the opposite end? I used to have a sister-in-law who was a Nebraska Cornhuskers fan, but she went to Oklahoma Sooners games and sat on the OU end with her husband, an OU fan. (In case you’re wondering, she reported that she was always treated very well, though there was a lot of mutual teasing.)
#Iknklast
No, it’s not generally enforced as an absolute rule. People do sometimes attend in the ‘wrong’ area, although you’d need to be pretty brave to actively cheer your team on or wear their colours from there. Not so much because of the risk of violence, which has reduced enormously since the 80s, but the derision and mockery from the surrounding fans would likely be more intense than most people would be comfortable with.
Since this match is happening in a couple of weeks I’d imagine that lots of the tickets have been sold, and more or less everyone will have bought one in their own end.
I think it was originally introduced to stop rival fans from fighting, but it also helps to create the atmosphere and prevents bigger teams with more fans buying up all the tickets.
I can believe it’s a lot more common in American football. There’s no similar rule at rugby or cricket, where the spectators are all intermingled. They also allow you to drink, which you can’t do in a football stadium.