Tel Aviv football team says it is working to ‘stamp out racism’ among its fan base.<\/p>\n
Israeli football team Maccabi Tel Aviv has said it will turn down any tickets offered to its fans for a match in the United Kingdom, even if an earlier decision by local officials to bar the team\u2019s followers<\/a> from attending is reversed.<\/p>\n Maccabi Tel Aviv said on Monday that \u201chard lessons learned\u201d meant it had decided to decline any offer of tickets for the Europa League game against Aston Villa.<\/p>\n Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list<\/p>\n \u201cThe wellbeing and safety of our fans is paramount,\u201d the team said in a statement posted online. \u201cOur decision should be understood in that context.\u201d<\/p>\n The club also said it had been working to \u201cstamp out racism\u201d within the \u201cmore extreme elements\u201d of its fan base.<\/p>\n \u201cOur first-team squad consists of Muslims, Christian and Jewish players and our fan base also crosses the ethnic and religious divide,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n The team\u2019s decision came a day after Israeli police cancelled a match between Maccabi and its rival Tel Aviv team Hapoel before kickoff over what they described as \u201cpublic disorder and violent riots\u201d.<\/p>\n The move by Israeli authorities to cancel the game stood in contrast with criticism by British and Israeli leaders of Birmingham City\u2019s decision to ban Maccabi fans from the November 6 match at Villa Park in Birmingham, central England.<\/p>\n UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the ban by the city\u2019s Safety Advisory Group (SAG) \u201cthe wrong decision\u201d, while Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Saar called for the \u201cshameful\u201d and \u201ccoward decision\u201d to be reversed.<\/p>\n The UK government said on Friday that it was working to override local authorities to allow Israeli fans to be present.<\/p>\n But after Israeli police shut down the match between Tel Aviv teams on Sunday, some UK politicians questioned whether the government should intervene in Birmingham.<\/p>\n \u201cTo Keir Starmer and others who tried to make this about religion! Here\u2019s more evidence. Even under the world\u2019s spotlight, these fans chose violence, injuring police officers,\u201d independent MP Ayoub Khan wrote in a post on X.<\/p>\n Richard Burgon, a Labour MP, broke with his government, saying the developments vindicated the decision to ban away fans from attending the game.<\/p>\n \u201cThis news exposes how absurd that campaign has been,\u201d he said on X. \u201cThe people of Birmingham have a right to be kept safe.\u201d<\/p>\n West Midlands Police said last week that they had classified the match as high risk based on \u201ccurrent intelligence and previous incidents, including violent clashes and hate crime offences that occurred during the 2024 UEFA Europa League match<\/a> between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Amsterdam\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cBased on our professional judgement, we believe this measure will help mitigate risks to public safety,\u201d the police force said.<\/p>\n Last year\u2019s clashes in Amsterdam between pro-Palestinian supporters and fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv led to dozens of arrests.<\/p>\n The clashes followed incidents of Israeli fans<\/a> rampaging through the Dutch capital, assaulting residents, destroying symbols of Palestinian solidarity and chanting racist and genocidal slogans against Palestinians and Arabs.<\/p>\n The clashes also featured reported incidents of anti-Semitism, including a private messaging chat calling for a \u201cJew hunt\u201d.<\/p>\n Legal experts have also voiced concerns about Israeli teams participating in international sporting matches, citing a report by United Nations investigators that affirmed that Israel is carrying out a genocide against Palestinians<\/a>.<\/p>\n