Keir Starmer Condemns Decision To Ban Israeli Football Fans From Attending Aston Villa Game
Keir Starmer has hit out at the decision not to allow Maccabi Tel Aviv fans to attend their club’s away trip to Aston Villa in the Europa League on November 6th, after the Israeli government told LBC it was an “extremely sad state of affairs”.
Maccabi Tel Aviv fans are among the most racist football fans on the planet, and even have a song boasting about being “the country’s most racist team” which ends with monkey chants. They routinely engage in pro-genocide, anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian chanting. Although it’s worth noting the decision to ban them from the Aston Villa game actually has more to do with protecting them from activists and protesters.
Starmer called the decision ‘antisemitic’, writing in his typical generic fashion X: “This is the wrong decision. We will not tolerate antisemitism on our streets. The role of the police is to ensure all football fans can enjoy the game, without fear of violence or intimidation.”
This is the wrong decision.
We will not tolerate antisemitism on our streets.
The role of the police is to ensure all football fans can enjoy the game, without fear of violence or intimidation.https://t.co/8aBeqE4qbA
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) October 16, 2025
The decision actually came from the Safety Advisory Group (SAG), who informed Aston Villa that “no travelling fans will be permitted at the match in Birmingham.” This is out of concern of possible protests against the genocide in Gaza, which would make the game “high risk” in terms of trouble breaking out.
This comes after Maccabi Tel Aviv’s match against Ajax last November, which resulted in 62 arrests and five individuals hospitalised in Amsterdam. At the game itself, the Israeli club’s fans were engaging in their typical racist chanting, which probably didn’t help matters.
Maybe Keir Starmer could invite the Maccabi Tel Aviv fans round his house to watch the game and see how that goes? Instead of conflating all Jews with a notoriously violent and racist group of football hooligans so that he can call it the decision to ban them “antisemitic.”
For the Spurs fan who got attacked after shouting ‘Come on Spurs’ in the Chelsea stand during a friendly, click HERE. Whoops.
