Overview

• Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said the restriction on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans should not stand and rejected calls to boycott Israeli teams.
• Birmingham City Council says the decision will not be revisited unless West Midlands Police changes its high‑risk assessment for the 6 November match.
• West Midlands Police classified the fixture as high risk citing current intelligence and violence and hate crime linked to last year’s Ajax–Maccabi game in Amsterdam.
• Ministers expect West Midlands Police and Birmingham’s Safety Advisory Group to set out early next week what resources would allow both sets of fans to attend safely.
• Senior officers at the UK Football Policing Unit back the established process and say the Home Office was briefed that restrictions were possible, while Claire Coutinho called the ban a disgrace and pointed to policing at other high‑risk events.