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LONDON: British police concluded that traveling Maccabi Tel Aviv fans represented the biggest potential threat of violence at their team’s match against Aston Villa next month.

The police assessment was a factor in the decision to ban supporters of the Israeli team from attending the Europa League game in Birmingham on Nov. 6.

The decision last week — which Aston Villa said followed “an instruction” from Birmingham’s Safety Advisory Group based on the advice of West Midlands Police — sparked controversy, including accusations of antisemitism and criticism from Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Details of the police intelligence report and risk assessments have not been publicly shared but The Guardian newspaper reported on Tuesday that it was the Maccabi fans themselves that were the main source of concern, rather than the possibility that their supporters would be targeted by others.

Sources told the newspaper that West Midlands Police had learned scores of Maccabi fans with a history of violence and racism were expected to travel to the game. Dutch police told their British counterparts that Maccabi fans had instigated violence at a match in Amsterdam last year, randomly attacking Muslims.

UK police feared that any trouble started by the Israeli fans might spark wider clashes and reprisal attacks.

“The biggest risk was always the extreme Maccabi fans who want to fight,” a source with knowledge of the assessments told The Guardian. The police assessment was shared with the UK’s football policing unit, which backed its conclusions, the newspaper added.

Concern about the behavior of Maccabi fans was so great that at least 1,500 extra riot police would have had to be mobilized from across the country at a cost of £6 million ($8 million).

Starmer described the decision as “wrong” and said Britain would not tolerate antisemitism on its streets.

“The role of the police is to ensure all football fans can enjoy the game, without fear of violence or intimidation,” he said, amid calls for the ban to be overturned.

But it now appears the decision was made based on the checkered history of the Israeli fans themselves, which includes regular racist and anti-Arab chants, rather than concerns about their safety.

Maccabi’s scheduled match on Sunday against Hapoel in Tel Aviv was canceled before kickoff after violence erupted.

Maccabi announced on Monday they would not sell tickets for the Aston Villa match to their fans.

LONDON: Police in London have banned a right-wing populist party from staging a rally calling for “mass deportations” in an area with a large Muslim population.

The UK Independence Party, known as UKIP, had planned to hold the event in Whitechapel on Saturday, telling supporters to “reclaim the area from Islamists.”

London’s Metropolitan Police said on Tuesday it had banned the event from taking place anywhere in the Tower Hamlets borough over “concerns of serious disorder.”

Commander Nick John said: “Tower Hamlets has the largest percentage of Muslim residents anywhere in the UK and the prospect of this protest taking place in the heart of the borough has been the cause of significant concern locally.

“It is our assessment that there is a realistic prospect of serious disorder if it was to go ahead in the proposed location.”

The rally was part of a series of events around the UK promoted by UKIP as a “mass deportations tour.”

The UK has seen a surge in support for populist anti-immigration parties including Reform UK, which holds a substantial lead in the polls.

Reform’s leader Nigel Farage was previously the head of UKIP, when the party played a key role in the UK’s decision to leave the EU.

Since then UKIP has become increasingly right-wing and Islamophobic, describing the planned rally in London as a “crusade.”

Police said a large counter protest was also expected, organized by Stand Up To Racism and other groups.

The Mayor of Tower Hamlets Lutfur Rahman said the UKIP rally would have “spread fear and prejudice” and caused “significant disruption and intimidation in our local community.”

UKIP said it would move the march to another area of London, and added that police had “caved into the Islamists.”