LONDON: West Midlands Police have said their decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters from attending the club’s Europa League fixture against Aston Villa on Thursday was based on intelligence suggesting “significant levels of hooliganism” among a section of the Israeli club’s fan base, rather than concerns about threats to Israeli fans.

Chief Superintendent Tom Joyce told Sky News that the move, which drew criticism from UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and several MPs, was taken solely on safety grounds following an assessment of risks surrounding the match.

British police said six people were arrested on Thursday evening ahead of the match. West Midlands Police, which has deployed more than 700 officers over concerns of clashes between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli groups, said a 21-year-old man was arrested for failing to comply with an order to remove a face mask while a 17-year-old boy was arrested for failing to comply with a dispersal order.

Three others were arrested for racially aggravated public order offenses and another for breach of the peace.

The Birmingham club beat their Israeli opponents 2-0 with goals from Ian Maatsen and Donyell Malen either side of half-time. 

The decision to exclude Israeli fans was criticized by government figures, with some describing it as antisemitic and suggesting it effectively turned parts of Birmingham into a “no-go zone” for Israelis. The Home Affairs Committee subsequently requested an explanation from police regarding the decision-making process.

“We are simply trying to make decisions based on community safety, driven by the intelligence that was available to us and our assessment of the risk that was coming from admitting traveling fans,” Joyce said.

He added: “I’m aware there’s a lot of commentary around the threat to the (Maccabi) fans being the reason for the decision. To be clear, that was not the primary driver. That was a consideration. We have intelligence and information that says there is a section of Maccabi fans — not all, but a section — who engage in quite significant levels of hooliganism.”

Joyce said previous incidents involving Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters, including unrest before a match against Ajax in Amsterdam last year, informed the force’s risk assessment ahead of the Europa League fixture in Birmingham.

“What is probably quite unique in these circumstances is that, whereas often hooligans will clash with other hooligans, we’ve had examples where a section of Maccabi fans were targeting people not involved in football matches,” he said.

“It is exclusively a decision we made on the basis of the behavior of a subsection of Maccabi fans, but all the reaction that could occur obviously formed part of that as well.”

The Amsterdam fixture referenced by Joyce saw violence both before and during the game, leading to five convictions over antisemitic attacks on Israeli supporters. Dutch authorities also recorded instances of anti-Arab chanting by Maccabi fans.

Maccabi Tel Aviv’s CEO, Jack Angelides, said earlier this week that there had been “blatant falsehoods” spread about the Amsterdam incident and expressed frustration over what he described as a lack of transparency from West Midlands Police.

Responding to those remarks, Joyce said: “We are absolutely not saying that in Amsterdam the only fans causing trouble were the Maccabi fans. But what we were very clearly told is that they played a part in causing trouble, particularly a day before the match. That absolutely resulted in the following day there being attacks on Maccabi fans.”

He added: “So it wasn’t all one way, but escalating violence as a consequence is what we were trying to prevent here in Birmingham.”