Eleven people were arrested during protests surrounding Aston Villa’s controversial clash with Maccabi Tel Aviv, one that was dogged by weeks of contention around the inclusion of Israeli teams in international competition as a result of the Israel-Gaza war.
Away fans were banned from attending on safety grounds over fears by Birmingham City’s Safety Advisory Group (SAG) that the match was “high-risk”. The SAG cited both the context of the Israel-Gaza war and previous “violent clashes and hate crime offences” involving Maccabi fans at a Europa League game in Amsterdam last year, which led to dozens of arrests and five people being imprisoned.
