Labour pushed to allow Maccabi fans despite police warning on threat to Muslims

West Midlands Police determined Maccabi Tel Aviv fans posed a risk to Muslim communities in Birmingham in their assessment before banning the fans from a fixture on Thursday at Aston Villa, Middle East Eye can reveal.

The ban triggered a political furore and was denounced as antisemitic last month by the British government. 

Now MEE can reveal new details about the police assessment behind the ban which raises fresh questions about the response of government ministers, who said they would work to ensure Maccabi fans could attend the game despite the police assessment.

Documents seen by MEE show that police concluded that there was a "medium risk to local Muslim communities" and a "medium risk to pro-Palestine protestors", as well as a "high risk to away supporters", who were considered likely to provoke trouble.

The police said some Maccabi fans "were associated with a history of racist behaviour towards players and fans, and a well documented and concerning history of disorder and violence at both home and away matches".

The police said they had engaged with communities across Birmingham, including Jewish and Muslim communities, football fans and other local residents.

They noted that all groups expressed a fear of "attacks upon their communities and property", as well as the potential impact on community cohesion in Birmingham.

'Experienced fighters'

MEE revealed earlier this week that Dutch police told West Midlands Police that over 200 Maccabi Tel Aviv football fans who wreaked havoc in Amsterdam in November 2024 were "linked to the Israel Defense Forces [IDF]", and that hundreds more were "experienced fighters", "highly organised" and "intent on causing serious violence".

The Guardian reported on 21 October that the police assessment "concluded the biggest risk of violence came from extremist fans of the Israeli club".

'I find it, frankly, disgusting that the government has taken what is ultimately an issue of public safety and distorted the facts for its own political ends'

- Jeremy Corbyn MP

When news of the ban first became public, British Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Lisa Nandy criticised suggestions that the ban was due to the behaviour of the Israeli club's fans.

In parliament, she claimed the ban was "based in no small part on the risk posed to those fans that are attending who support Maccabi Tel Aviv, because they are Israeli and because they are Jewish". 

She suggested Iqbal Mohamed - an independent MP who backed the ban - was behaving in a "way that is antisemitic".

Mohamed wrote a letter to Nandy on 23 October saying that her statement "misrepresents my view, it also misrepresents the guidance of Birmingham City Council’s Safety Advisory Group and the West Midlands Police to which I was referring to in my intervention."

He continued: "To suggest that the decision by the West Midlands Police and Birmingham City Council’s Safety Advisory Group was motivated by anti-Jewish sentiment is both factually incorrect and dangerously misleading.

"I would never support a ban on any group based on religion or identity, and any attempt to portray my position in that way does a disservice not only to us but to the communities we all serve."

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Mohamed told MEE on Wednesday that Nandy had not responded to his letter, and raised a point of order in parliament on the matter. 

Responding on Tuesday to MEE's revelation that the police were told many Maccabi fans were fighters "intent on causing violence", independent MP Jeremy Corbyn told MEE: "Lisa Nandy must tell us whether she knew about this shocking intelligence before she smeared and attacked those of us who supported the ban."

Corbyn added: "I find it, frankly, disgusting that the government has taken what is ultimately an issue of public safety and distorted the facts for its own political ends. They lied to the British public - and they have been caught out."

Over the weekend, the police and Birmingham's Safety Advisory Group upheld the ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending the match – despite the government's criticism – although Maccabi Tel Aviv had eventually decided not to sell tickets to its fans for the fixture.

More than 700 officers are preparing to mount an operation for the match on Thursday, amid planned protests by pro-Palestine protesters, who say Maccabi Tel Aviv should not be allowed to play because of Israel's genocide in Gaza and continued occupation of Palestinian territory.