Removing Israeli teams from UEFA competitions/Boycotting the Maccabi TA game

[Chris Harte]

I'm pissed off that our club is being used as a political football, simply for the random event that was being drawn to play against them.

I'm particularly annoyed that the MP for Droitwich has said "Can we really not guarantee the safety of jewish people on our streets?"

Two issues I have with this. I'm a white, middle-aged male. My safety isn't guaranteed on the streets, nor is that of the Asian family who live opposite, nor that of the black family two doors down, nor the white families either side of me who for all I know could be Christian, Jewish or non-believers.

The other issue is he's gone for the "jewish people" angle rather than the correct "Israeli football fans" angle.

Everywhere I've looked today, perhaps with the exception of the MP for Perry Barr, I've seen people in power making inflammatory statements.

[Drummond]

Club just sat there shrugging. Nowt to do with us. We'll turn up, put 3 or 4 past you and you can see us again on the tele gents. Tarra a bit.

It's the only sensible thing to do in this situation.

Yep, we need to stay as quiet as possible, for as long as possible on this. And when the time comes, Emery just tells reporters the players are ready etc.

[VILLA MOLE]

I have got tickets for this and I am taking my boy who is 12 .  I am a bit concerned about bringing him .  We walk up from just by the ring road (part of our routine ) not sure I fancy taking him if there is potential trouble on the fringes

I promised my 6 year old that if there is an 'early' game at home in Europe we would go.

Thank fupp it is a few weeks later against an incidental team from Switzerland.

Yes I want to go to that one too but he finishes school at 4 so it is tight .  Would i be able to get a refund I wonder  for the Maccabi game ?

[Mister E]

The media feeding frenzy over the MTA game has now ensured that the ground will become a magnet for Tommy nine-names' acolytes and the Stop the Genocide protesters. My guess is it may become an afternoon game played behind closed doors.

What an irony that the timing of the announcement couldn't have been better-timed as we plan to take on Spurs ...

I think BCD is the best course of action here, tbh (TM abbrevs - Ed). You have to remember that even with no MTA fans present, our knobend faction will be and might be up for a bit of intra fan aggro...
And...I'm sure entirely unmaliciously and unconsciously, you're conflating Jewish with Israel here. Many Jewish people, some highly orthodox, have made public their opposition to Israel's genocide

I'm not conflating anything here.

[astonvilla82]

Welcome the ban and I don't care what any other politicians are saying either whether pro Israel or pro Palestine

[SamTheMouse]

In retrospect, it probably would have been a good idea for the club to include specific reference to hooliganism in the original statement, since that's what it's about.

Mind you, the moron local MPs kind of undermined that line.

[Nunkin1965]

And I'm going to be in Portugal while this game and all that surrounds it will be taking place.

Is it correct that I cannot pass on my ticket or sell it back to the club?

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

I have got tickets for this and I am taking my boy who is 12 .  I am a bit concerned about bringing him .  We walk up from just by the ring road (part of our routine ) not sure I fancy taking him if there is potential trouble on the fringes

I promised my 6 year old that if there is an 'early' game at home in Europe we would go.

Thank fupp it is a few weeks later against an incidental team from Switzerland.

500 years of democracy and peace and they didn't actually invent the cuckoo clock. Knowing our luck they are going to annex Liechtenstein next week.

[Brazilian Villain]

Is it correct that I cannot pass on my ticket or sell it back to the club?

Just try to ensure the buyer doesn't have a Tel Aviv postcode.

[Chris Harte]

From the BBC's rolling news page on this subject:

The ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans increasingly looks like it could lead to serious legal action for discrimination.

Pressure group Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) has already begun the process of challenging the ban.

It says that the ban appears to involve “an instruction to commit direct discrimination against Israelis and/or indirect discrimination against both Israelis and Jews".

And that, it says, is race discrimination under the Equality Act 2010 - a serious matter for the courts.

Our anti-discrimination and human rights laws protect people from policies that weren’t meant to single them out, but end up doing so as an unintended consequence. This is what CAA refers to when it mentions “indirect discrimination”.

In practical terms almost all - if not all - Maccabi Tel Aviv fans will be Israeli, Jewish or both.

So, the ban on Maccabi fans going to Aston Villa does not just affect them as fans, it affects them as people who are Israeli or Jewish.

What does that mean in legal terms?

“There can be discrimination of both characteristics,” says Adam Wagner KC, a senior human rights barrister, who agrees there is a serious question about whether the ban is lawful.

Oh, do just f*** off! The racism/antisemitism claims ignore the very real public safety issues around this game.

[dave.woodhall]

Another group unknown this time yesterday.

[Brazilian Villain]

I promised my 6 year old that if there is an 'early' game at home in Europe we would go.

Thank fupp it is a few weeks later against an incidental team from Switzerland.

500 years of democracy and peace and they didn't actually invent the cuckoo clock. Knowing our luck they are going to annex Liechtenstein next week.

They tried it in 1968 at Malbun, biut the locals fought them off with dental prosthetics.

[Dave]

From the BBC's rolling news page on this subject:

The ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans increasingly looks like it could lead to serious legal action for discrimination.

Pressure group Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) has already begun the process of challenging the ban.

It says that the ban appears to involve “an instruction to commit direct discrimination against Israelis and/or indirect discrimination against both Israelis and Jews".

And that, it says, is race discrimination under the Equality Act 2010 - a serious matter for the courts.

Our anti-discrimination and human rights laws protect people from policies that weren’t meant to single them out, but end up doing so as an unintended consequence. This is what CAA refers to when it mentions “indirect discrimination”.

In practical terms almost all - if not all - Maccabi Tel Aviv fans will be Israeli, Jewish or both.

So, the ban on Maccabi fans going to Aston Villa does not just affect them as fans, it affects them as people who are Israeli or Jewish.

What does that mean in legal terms?

“There can be discrimination of both characteristics,” says Adam Wagner KC, a senior human rights barrister, who agrees there is a serious question about whether the ban is lawful.

Oh, do just f*** off! The racism/antisemitism claims ignore the very real public safety issues around this game.

It's like the entire world has gone mad overnight.

[Crown Hill]

Birmingham Safety Action Group: The group - which is made up of several professional authorities - says it will review its earlier decision if West Midlands Police changes its risk assessment for the match.

It’s the Villa Safety Advisory Group and they don’t make decisions they offer advice. They also don’t issue safety certificates.

Although the language in the statement was misleading it was Villa - in consultation with UEFA - who made the decision to not allow away supporters.

[PeterWithe]

This issue does seem to have become a magnet for ****** of all persuasions.