Sports
No. 10 pledges action over Maccabi fan ban at Villa
Downing Street has pledged action to resolve the ban on fans of Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv attending next month’s Europa League game at Aston Villa, as it emerged the government was warned of the proposals last week.
Discussions are happening “at pace, across government” to overturn the ban on visiting supporters attending the match at Villa Park on Nov. 6, No. 10 has said.
Authorities in Birmingham are facing mounting pressure to overturn the ban, with the government stepping in on Thursday evening.
However, ministers face fresh questions after the UK Football Policing Unit said the Home Office was briefed “last week” that “restrictions on visiting fans” could be among the measures taken to police the fixture.
Senior officers at the unit backed the ban, saying it was “important that we respect and support the structures in place for making these decisions”.
It is understood the Home Office was briefed that a ban was being considered, but no decision had been taken and the Home Secretary was not informed of the final decision until it was made public on Thursday night.
Conversations aimed at overturning the ban include Home Office offers of support to police in Birmingham, and a phone call between Communities Secretary Steve Reed and Birmingham City Council.
Meanwhile, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy is “meeting officials to discuss what more can be done to try to find a way through to resolve this, and what more can be done to allow fans to attend the game safely”, a No. 10 spokesman said.
He added: “You can expect to hear further updates today. I won’t pre-empt the conversations, but these are happening at pace, across government, with all the relevant groups to find a way to resolve this.”
The Prime Minister has been “angered by the decision,” the spokesman also said, adding: “While of course this is an operational decision, we are perfectly entitled to speak out on fundamental principles of fairness like this.”
He said: “The Prime Minister will do everything in his power to give Jewish communities the security they deserve and, as he has made clear, we think this is the wrong decision.”
The Aston Villa vs. Maccabi Tel Aviv match was classified high risk by West Midlands Police based on “current intelligence and previous incidents.”
The force pointed to violent clashes and hate crime offences that occurred during the 2024 Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi in Amsterdam.
Birmingham’s safety advisory group (SAG), which brings together the council and police force, has faced widespread criticism from across the political spectrum for its decision to implement the ban.
The West Midlands’ police and crime commissioner Simon Foster called for Birmingham council officials and West Midlands Police to review the decision.
The review would “determine whether or not this decision and recommendation is appropriate, necessary, justified, reasonable and a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim,” he said.
Labour mayor of the West Midlands Richard Parker suggested the government could finance the policing costs should the ban be overturned.
He wrote on social media: “Whilst I respect West Midlands Police, if the government are willing to support in terms of resource then there should be a review of the decision that has been made.”
UEFA, which runs the Europa League, urged UK authorities to make sure Maccabi fans could attend the fixture.
Maccabi chief executive Jack Angelides said he did not want to take security issues lightly but told the BBC the team has travelled to places such as Turkey, where he said the sentiment is “not so kind towards Israeli teams,” but the police “were out in force” and there were no incidents.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch urged the Home Secretary and the Prime Minister to “get involved” if the police did not reverse its decision to ban Maccabi supporters.
She said the Prime Minister “needs to show he has got a backbone and isn’t so weak that he will just allow Jewish people to be terrorised here.”
The chair of the Culture Media and Sport select committee, Dame Caroline Dinenage, has written to the Chief Constable of West Midlands Police asking for an explanation of the decision.
“The move to prevent away fans from attending next month’s match at Villa Park is extremely concerning and is at odds with the principle that football in this country is for everyone,” Dinenage said.
“The police need to be open about how and why they reached the decision that a ban was the only way of guaranteeing public safety, and whether there is a route to reversing what is a deeply regrettable situation.”
NEW YORK — Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz are facing a May trial on federal charges that they took bribes to help gamblers betting on their pitches.
U.S. District Court Judge Kiyo Matsumoto on Tuesday said jury selection would tentatively begin May 4 in Brooklyn federal court, with the trial opening the following week or sooner.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Sherman told the judge at the brief hearing that prosecutors anticipate the trial could last two weeks.
He said that both sides have been in discussions since the pitchers were arrested last month but that they have not yet talked about a possible plea deal in the case to avoid trial.
Matsumoto initially proposed a February trial date, but prosecutors and defense lawyers pushed for a spring start.
Sherman said prosecutors began providing defense lawyers with evidence and other materials this week in anticipation of a trial, including hundreds of gigabytes of files pulled from a number of electronic devices.
Clase, Ortiz and their lawyers declined to comment outside the courtroom. They’re due back in court Jan. 15.
The two have been out on bail since pleading not guilty last month to wire fraud conspiracy, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery.
According to prosecutors, the two accepted thousands of dollars in bribes to help two unnamed gamblers in their native Dominican Republic win at least $460,000 on bets placed on the speed and outcome of their pitches.
The prosecutors allege that Clase, the Guardians’ star closer, began providing the bettors with information about his pitches in 2023 and then recruited Ortiz into the scheme earlier this year.
Lawyers for the men have denied the charges. Ortiz’s lawyer has maintained that payments between his client and individuals in the Dominican Republic were for legal activities, not payoffs.
Clase, 27, is a three-time All-Star and two-time American League Reliever of the Year who is on the fourth season of a $20 million, five-year contract.
Ortiz, 26, earned a $782,600 salary this year as a starting pitcher for Cleveland.
The two pitchers have been on nondisciplinary paid leave since July, when MLB began investigating what it said was unusually high in-game betting activity when they pitched.
The Guardians open spring training in February. The team’s home opener is April 3.
Barcelona midfielder Aitana Bonmatí will be out for five months after undergoing surgery on a broken leg on Tuesday, the Catalan club have confirmed.
Bonmatí, 27, fractured her fibula in Spain training over the weekend and returned to Barcelona immediately to begin her recovery.
“Bonmatí has undergone successful surgery on a fractured fibula in her left leg,” Barça announced in a short statement on Tuesday.
“The procedure was performed by Dr. Antoni Dalmau at Hospital Barcelona under the supervision of the club’s medical services. The expected recovery time is around five months.”
The three-time Ballon d’Or winner picked up the injury on Sunday as Spain prepared for Tuesday’s UEFA Women’s Nations League final second leg against Germany.
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She had initially wanted to stay with the Spain camp to support the team in their quest to retain the trophy, but was advised to return to Barcelona for treatment.
On Friday, she had played in the first leg in Germany, which ended in a goalless draw.
Bonmatí will now miss the majority of what remains of the club season, although there is a chance she could return for the run in.
The Champions League final, should Barça get there, is scheduled to take place in Oslo on May 22, with the final round of Liga F matches not set to take place until a week later.
The loss of Bonmatí complicates Barça’s options in the middle park, especially in the short-term, with both Patri Guijarro and Kika Nazareth also unlikely to feature again this calendar year due to injuries.
In the meantime, Laia Aleixandri will continue to push up from defence alongside Alexia Putellas, with youngsters Vicky López, Sydney Schertenleib and Clara Serrajordi set to compete for the final place in the middle of the park.
BYU men’s basketball star Kennard Davis returned from a two-game suspension Thursday after a DUI arrest earlier this month, scoring 18 points and adding five rebounds in the Cougars’ 72-62 win over Miami.
The forward played 32 minutes as BYU improved to 5-1 after winning in the Terry’s Chocolate ESPN Events invitational in Florida. Davis, who is averaging 9.0 points and connecting on 50% of his 3-point attempts, hadn’t played since Nov. 8.
Miami fell to 5-2.
He was arrested earlier this month after an accident that preceded his arrest on suspicion of DUI and possession of marijuana. He was treated for minor injuries. In his first court appearance, Davis pleaded not guilty.
The arrest threatened to complicate his career at BYU because the school’s honor code bans the abuse of alcohol and narcotics. A violation of that honor code can result in expulsion.
But Davis, whom BYU coach Kevin Young has called one of the top defenders he has ever coached, was back on the court for a Cougars team that has national title aspirations.
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