Arjun Menon
Aston Villa tells supporters not to bring political messages to Europa League tie
Aston Villa has warned fans that displaying political symbols, messages or flags during the Europa League match against Maccabi Tel Aviv on 6 November is banned under Uefa rules and will lead to immediate ejection and a stadium ban.
The club set out its ticketing guidance on Tuesday, saying only supporters with a purchase history before the current season would be eligible for tickets. Villa also confirmed it will not sell seats in the away end and urged supporters not to resell tickets.
The guidance follows a decision from Birmingham’s safety advisory group (SAG) last week that no travelling Maccabi fans would be allowed to attend the fixture after local police classified the match as “high risk”.
West Midlands Police said it had classified the fixture as “high risk” based on intelligence and previous incidents, including “violent clashes and hate crime offences that occurred during the 2024 Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Amsterdam”.
Maccabi Tel Aviv subsequently said it would decline any ticket allocation from Villa, citing concerns for the safety of its travelling supporters.
“A toxic atmosphere has been created which makes the safety of our fans wishing to attend very much in doubt,” the Israeli club said.
Maccabi added that the abandonment of the Tel Aviv derby against Hapoel Tel Aviv was not caused by its supporters and that it has been working to tackle racism within the extreme elements of its fanbase.
“We have also been working tirelessly to stamp out racism within the more extreme elements of our fanbase,” the club said. “It is clear, that various entrenched groups seek to malign the Maccabi Tel Aviv fanbase…and are exploiting isolated incidents for their own social and political ends.”
Government ministers reacted strongly to the SAG decision. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer urged the ban to be overturned and the government offered to fund any extra policing needed to allow visiting fans to attend.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy called the ban “wrong” and said it had come “against the backdrop of rising antisemitism here and across the world,” adding that the SAG would review its stance if West Midlands Police revised its risk assessment.
But the UK Football Policing Unit urged respect for the established decision-making structures, and the Fare Network said it was “reluctant to question” the police assessment.
Locally, Villa had already been managing matchday concerns. The club told matchday stewards they did not have to work the fixture, saying some “may have concerns” about attending.
Protests have accompanied recent matches involving Israeli teams. In September, pro-Palestinian demonstrations marred a Europa League game in Thessaloniki where Maccabi faced PAOK, and the Israeli club travelled with heavy security.
With Maccabi declining tickets the immediate dispute over the SAG decision has been removed, but the situation raises lingering questions about the intelligence behind the original ruling and how future international events in Birmingham will be managed.
Local and national scrutiny is likely to continue in the run-up to the 6 November fixture, and some observers say the episode could have implications for Birmingham’s hosting of major events such as the 2026 European Athletics Championships and Euro 2028.
“We are deeply saddened,” a UK government spokesperson said, calling it “completely unacceptable” that the match had been “weaponised to stoke violence and fear by those who seek to divide us.”