Watchdog to review football decision making after reports Maccabi Tel Aviv Aston Villa ban based on 'false intelligence'

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) has been ordered by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to look at how police forces in England and Wales provide risk assessments to safety advisory groups, which inform on measures around high-profile events.

Policing minister Sarah Jones said there were wider lessons to be learnt from the decision not to allow fans from the Israeli team to attend the game against Aston Villa, which caused political uproar ahead of the Europa League match in early November.

An article in the Sunday Times quoted a Dutch police spokesman who said claims about the actions of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans during a game in Amsterdam, cited by West Midlands Police, were not recognised by the force.

According to the newspaper, the West Midlands Police report said Maccabi Tel Aviv fans in Amsterdam threw members of the public into a river; that 500-600 of them targeted Muslim communities; that 200 were linked to the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF); that the fans were “highly organised, skilled fighters with a serious desire and will to fight with police and opposing groups”; and that Dutch police deployed 5,000 officers in response.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the chief constable of West Midlands Police, Craig Guildford, should resign unless he can explain why “false intelligence” was provided. He claimed “the threat of antisemitic mob violence” had dictated policy.

Ms Jones said: “I think stepping back there are wider lessons that we need to learn which is why the Home Secretary has written to the inspector to ask him to look at how the [Safety Advisory Group] process occurred, and how it makes decisions.”

Safety Advisory Groups (SAGs) were set up after the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, which killed 97 Liverpool fans during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at the stadium in Sheffield.

Ms Jones continued: “The Home Secretary has asked the inspector to consider the degree to which the police take account of intelligence, the degree to which the SAG process takes into account wider community impacts, and that speaks to a wider question to him now, of who was giving information and what basis were the police making their decision on, and their recommendation on.”

She added: “The review will look at whether the balance of these factors is being struck correctly.”

It will report back before March, with extra funding provided. It will also examine the chronology of events.

West Midlands Police has already said it will publish a timeline of decisions taken, and the rationale for recommendations put to the SAG.

Asking his urgent question in the House of Commons, Conservative MP and Aston Villa fan Nick Timothy (West Suffolk) told MPs the decision to ban fans was a “disgrace”, and reporting in the Sunday Times showed it was based on “fiction”.

Mr Timothy said: “Under pressure from Islamist agitators, local politicians and thugs an English police force is accused of fabricating intelligence and misleading the public.

“This could hardly be more serious, we need ministers to hold the chief constable to account and give the country the truth.”

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said West Midlands Police should be made accountable for providing “false information”.

Mr Philp said: “Last month, Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were banned under the threat of antisemitic mob violence and a highly politicised anti-Israel campaign.

“Let me be clear, we must never allow the threat of mob violence to dictate policy. The West Midlands Police cited concerns about the Tel Aviv fans, based on a previous game in Amsterdam. But the Dutch police have now shown that is completely false.

“There was no mob of 500 fans targeting the Muslim community in Amsterdam. In fact, many Maccabi fans were themselves attacked.”

He added: “So what will the Government do to hold the West Midlands Police to account for providing this false information? And unless they have a good explanation, the chief constable should resign.”

Mr Philp claimed members of the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign in Birmingham tried to “hunt down” Maccabi fans before the game. He also named two members of the SAG who had expressed “vehemently anti-Israel views”.

Ms Jones replied: “I agree with him that we shouldn’t allow the threat of mob violence to stop matches going ahead. I think with respect, he is jumping the gun a bit on some of the phrases that he has made, saying it was just made up. We’re not clear on that at this point.

“I wouldn’t want this House to take what was in the newspaper yesterday and jump to conclusions.”

She added: “We have a duty to find the right balance between operational independence and making sure all of our communities are protected in exactly the way we need them to be.”