Why Maccabi Tel Aviv fans with record of violent rampages were really banned

Israeli football team Maccabi Tel Aviv's fans are notorious for stoking violence and disruption in European cities.

Now they have been banned from attending the club's Europa League match at Aston Villa in England's Birmingham.

Shortly after the ban was announced on Thursday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned it as the "wrong decision", criticising West Midlands Police and saying: "We will not tolerate antisemitism on our streets."

Ministers are now reportedly looking into reversing the ban.

But what's the truth about it?

The ban is far from unprecedented. In November 2023 Aston Villa banned fans of another club, Legia Warsaw, from attending the match on the advice of West Midlands Police after supporters of the Polish club engaged in violence.

Maccabi Tel Aviv fans have a long track record of causing violence and disruption in European cities.

Amsterdam City Council recently banned Maccabi Tel Aviv from the Dutch capital after the club's fans caused mayhem by rampaging through the Dutch capital in November, before and after their Europa League match against Ajax. 

Israeli ministers claimed the club's fans were subject to attacks. But a large group of Maccabi supporters were filmed arming themselves with sticks, pipes and rocks and provoking clashes with Dutch youths.

Maccabi supporters were filmed chanting racist songs including "fuck the Arabs" and "Why is school out in Gaza? There are no children left there!" They were also seen ripping up Palestinian flags.

For two hours after the game, between 12.30am and 2.30am, violent incidents spread throughout the city as the Maccabi fans were confronted by local residents.

'Deeply implicated in racist and extremist displays'

In Athens in March 2024, Maccabi fans brutally beat a man who was carrying a Palestinian flag in Athens ahead of their team's match against Greek team Olympiacos, and lit flares in the city centre.

In 2023 in Cyprus, Maccabi supporters were arrested for possession of flares and smoke bombs. Others engaged in fights with local residents.

Uefa fined the club back in 2013 after fans displayed a banner during a match with the slogan "FEEL THE TERROR OF TEL AVIV".

A recent report by the Hind Rajab Foundation entitled "Game Over Israel: Sports Culture as a Cog in Genocide" says Maccabi supporters have "been deeply implicated in racist and extremist displays".

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"Ultras groups associated with the club frequently chant anti-Arab slogans during matches, turning stadiums into arenas of incitement rather than spaces of inclusion," it said.

"Beyond verbal abuse, Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters have also been at the forefront of celebrating soldiers involved in the occupation, treating them as 'heroes' and embedding the glorification of militarism directly into fan rituals."

Ashish Prashar of campaign group Game Over Israel, which co-authored the report, told Middle East Eye: "We collected and verified extensive evidence of this systematic instrumentalisation of football culture in genocide.

"This report integrates findings - from stadium racism, to assaults in Europe, to soldiers turning genocide into football propaganda - and demonstrates why Israel's place in global sport is indefensible."

West Midlands Police said they had classified the match 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".

"Based on our professional judgement, we believe this measure will help mitigate risks to public safety," it said.

Antisemitism accusations

On Thursday evening and Friday morning, several politicians and prominent commentators denounced the ban as antisemitic.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch called it a "national disgrace". Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said it "takes racial discrimination to a whole new level".

The right’s position appears to be foreign thugs aren’t welcome in Britain.

Unless…they’re Israeli.

In which case it’s fine. And if you disagree…you’re a racist. https://t.co/vONty4eGTS

— Aaron Bastani (@AaronBastani) October 16, 2025

Meanwhile Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said: "You don’t tackle antisemitism by banning its victims. This decision must be reversed."

Tory MP Jack Rankin falsely claimed that Ayoub Khan, an independent MP who had campaigned for the ban, "thinks that Jews should be banned from football matches".

Rankin called him an "unintegrated, racist antisemite".

Khan said: "From the moment that the march was announced, it was clear that there were latent safety risks that even our capable security and police authorities would not be able to fully manage."

"With so much hostility and uncertainty around the match, it was only right to take drastic measures," he added.

"Sports entertainment events should be enjoyed by all, regardless of their race, ethnicity and background. But there are rare instances where the political dynamics surrounding such spectacles cannot be ignored, and where drastic action must be taken to ensure the safety of fans, players, staff and local residents."

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) backed the ban, saying it "should be understood in the context of their track record of committing racist violence in the cities hosting their team's games, but also the club's involvement in Israel's apartheid system".

The PSC added: "Starmer's criticism of the ban shows that he expects Birmingham residents to tolerate racist incitement, and expects police to provide cover for it."

This comes amid widespread calls for Uefa and Fifa to ban the Israel Football Association over allowing clubs in illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine to participate in its competitions, as well as in response to the genocide in Gaza.

After Uefa lifted a blanket ban on Russian football teams in September 2023, England's Football Association insisted its teams would still not play teams from Russia.