West Midlands Police Chief denies 'scraping' for reasons to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from Aston Villa match
The chief of West Midlands Police has rejected claims that officers “scraped” together intelligence to justify banning fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv from an away match at Aston Villa, after MPs said the force appeared to be searching for a reason to support the controversial decision.
West Midlands Police (WMP) leaders defended their position at the Home Affairs Committee on Tuesday after being recalled to give further evidence over the controversial decision to ban fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv from attending a Europa League match against Aston Villa on November 6.
Supporters of the Israeli football team were barred from travelling to the game at Villa Park by the local Safety Advisory Group (Sag), which cited safety concerns based on advice from the police force.
The decision by the Sag – which is made up of representatives from the council, police and other authorities – sparked political outrage, including from Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
Since then, doubts have been growing over the intelligence used by police, including disputes over the accuracy of information.
WMP chief constable Craig Guildford told the cross-party group of MPs: “From everything that I’ve read, and the commanders that I spoke to, I do not believe that there was political influence on that decision.
“Lots of local politicians and local members of the community I’m sure wanted to try and influence it, but I honestly don’t think it was influenced.”
The fixture had been classified high risk by WMP, with the force pointing to alleged violent clashes and hate crime offences that occurred during the 2024 Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Amsterdam.
However, Dutch police have disputed the accuracy of this information, the Sunday Times reported.
Mr Guildford defended claims put to him by committee chairwoman Dame Karen Bradley that it feels like the force was “scraping” to find a reason to justify the ban.
“I’m really sorry if it comes across in that way. That was absolutely not the case,” he said.
The committee heard West Midlands Police thought “vigilante groups” from the local community posed a threat to Maccabi Tel Aviv fans when it decided to ban them from the game.
MPs heard the force had information from as early as September 5 last year that the Israeli visitors would be targeted with “violence”.
Assistant chief constable Mike O’Hara said: “We got a lot of information intelligence to suggest that people were going to actively seek out Maccabi Tel Aviv fans and would seek violence towards them.
“So we had sort of like a bubbling position locally.
“We had people purporting to be Maccabi fans online who were goading local community members and saying, ‘this is what you’re going to get’.
“This was all forming part of the heat of the situation, so based on that, the commanders tried to make the right decision.”
WMP had previously been warned over misleading Parliament after evidence given to the Home Affairs Committee last month by Mr O’Hara suggested the police had been told by members of the Jewish community they did not want Maccabi fans to attend the match.
The force later clarified it was not his intention to imply that and subsequently apologised when pressed for more clarity by Dame Karen.
In a letter responding to the committee, WMP’s Mr Guildford said: “We can confirm that there is no documented feedback from Jewish representatives prior to the decision being communicated which expressed support for the ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans.”
However, he added that since Mr O’Hara appeared at the committee, he “has been approached by members of the Jewish community who expressed that they agree with the Sag decision”.
“Understandably, many community members chose to share their views privately, offering their support in confidence,” the chief constable said.
He added: “ACC O’Hara and I would like to take this opportunity to formally apologise to the Home Affairs Select Committee for any confusion caused and would like to reassure you that there was never any intention to mislead whatsoever.”
Amid continued scrutiny of the ban, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has ordered the policing watchdog to examine how forces in England and Wales provide risk assessments to safety advisory groups, which inform on measures around high-profile events.
His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services will hand its findings to Ms Mahmood by March 31.
