A damning official report has accused West Midlands Police of fabricating evidence, misleading the public, and failing to engage with the Jewish community to justify an unprecedented ban on Israeli football fans attending a Europa League match in Birmingham.
A 'Pack of Lies' and Exaggerated Threats
In a scathing 11-page report published on Wednesday, His Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary, Sir Andy Cooke, detailed how the force constructed a case based on 'exaggerated and untrue' information. The controversy stems from the planned match between Aston Villa and Maccabi Tel Aviv at Villa Park in November 2024.
West Midlands Police told the Aston Villa Safety Advisory Group (SAG) on October 7 that they needed to ban away fans due to severe disorder at a previous Maccabi match in Amsterdam. Officers claimed 5,000 Dutch police had to be deployed for several days, a figure Sir Andy found completely unsupported. It later emerged this number related to an unrelated game in Paris.
The force also incorrectly asserted that over 200 of the 2,800 travelling Israeli fans in Amsterdam were linked to the Israeli Defence Forces. Sir Andy labelled this a 'conflation of multiple sources of information'.
Fabricated Incidents and AI Hallucinations
The inspectorate dismantled a series of specific claims presented by police as key evidence. One senior commander wrongly stated that 500-600 Maccabi fans had been tearing down and setting fire to Palestine flags in Amsterdam. The city's mayor later confirmed only one report of someone attempting to burn a single flag.
Similarly, claims of 'serious assaults on Muslim taxi drivers' by hundreds of fans were based on a single assault found in Dutch reports. The assertion that fans were 'throwing innocent members of the public into the river' was wholly inaccurate; the only person thrown into a canal was a Maccabi supporter, attacked by a pro-Palestinian group.
In a startling revelation, part of the police dossier included a reference to a fictional match. Officers cited disorder from Maccabi's 'most recent match in the UK against West Ham United on November 9, 2023' – a game that never took place. Chief Constable Craig Guildford initially blamed an individual's Google search, but later apologised for misleading MPs, admitting the error was an 'AI hallucination' from the Microsoft Copilot tool.
Systemic Failures and Community Impact
Sir Andy accused the force of 'confirmation bias', saying it presented a misleading case to achieve its 'preferred tactical option' – a total ban. This left SAG members with 'little or no option' but to accept it. The report also highlighted concerns about bias within the SAG itself, noting one local councillor had called for the fixture to be cancelled and another had pledged to boycott it.
Despite claiming to have engaged the local Jewish community, the force did not do so until after recommending the ban. A warning from the Community Security Trust that a ban would feel like 'an attack on the Jewish community' was ignored. Police later claimed they could not engage due to High Holy Days, a justification Sir Andy rejected.
The Inspector summarised 'shortcomings in intelligence handling, ineffective engagement, poor record keeping, and an imbalance in communications'. While he found no evidence of political interference or antisemitic intent, he expressed serious concern over the chief constable's 'apparent lack of foresight'. Sir Andy stated Mr Guildford should have declared a critical incident as public trust collapsed.
The decision on whether Chief Constable Craig Guildford should be sacked now lies with the local Police and Crime Commissioner, Simon Foster, placing the force's leadership in jeopardy.
