Birmingham’s safety advisory group is meeting next week and is expected to produce proposals about the extra resources West Midlands police would need to allow the match to go ahead safely with away fans.
The force last week barred Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters from the match because of concerns that officers would not be able to police it safely. They cited “violent clashes and hate crime offences” at a Maccabi Tel Aviv match in Amsterdam in 2024.
Asked on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips on Sky News whether Villa Park was a no-go area for Jews, Miliband replied: “No, and it can’t be, and I’m very, very clear about that.
“We cannot have a situation where any area is a no-go area for people of a particular religion or from a particular country, and we’ve got to stamp out all forms of prejudice, antisemitism, Islamophobia, wherever we find them.”
Asked about a petition calling for a boycott of Israeli teams in the UK, Miliband said: “I profoundly disagree with that approach, with what is being said in that petition.”