Police admit overstating Maccabi fan ban evidence

West Midlands Police has admitted it "overstated the evidence" used to make the decision to ban Israeli fans from a match in Birmingham.

Craig Guildford, its former chief constable, retired earlier this month after damning criticism of the ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from the Europa League match against Aston Villa, last November.

In newly released documents, the force also said "we did not engage early enough with the local Jewish community", and indicated there was now a ban on AI use after its evidence included a match that did not take place.

Furthermore, it said its operations would have lasted four days, involved multiple forces, and cost more than £5m, if 2,500 away fans had attended.

The documents were released ahead of a public meeting on Tuesday, at which Police and Crime Commissioner for the West Midlands, Simon Foster, will discuss at his accountability and governance board, the decision to ban the Maccabi fans.

Presented by the chief officer team, the documents outline the chronology of the events leading up to the match and how the decision was made by SAG, whose members also include Birmingham City Council.

In it, the force outlines how the original plan was that Maccabi Tel Aviv fans would attend the fixture and plans were being developed to facilitate this.

However, in reaching the final conclusion the ban should be enforced, the force accepted "that there should have been contact made with police forces in other countries which had previously hosted matches" involving Maccabi Tel Aviv fans.

"And we accept that our discussions with the Dutch Police should have been recorded", the force said.

One of the errors that piled on pressure for Guildford to go was information included in a report to SAG thatreferenced a non-existent fixture between Maccabi Tel Aviv and West Ham, a detail thrown up by the use of AI during evidence-gathering.

In a letter to the Home Affairs Committee (HAC) published earlier this month, Guildford said it was the result of using AI tool Microsoft Copilot.

In the newly released documents, the force said: "Since this error has been identified, West Midlands Police is undertaking a review into the force's use and policy regarding AI and will be seeking to improve our processes as part of theoperational debrief.

"The Acting Chief Constable has also taken the decision to block access to Microsoft Co Pilot on WMP systems until further notice."

The force also said Guildford had updated Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood ahead of the fixture, outlining that Maccabi fans may be prohibited from attending, but at that stage the decision was still to be taken by SAG.

In publicly available evidence, Home Office officials asserted they were told by the United Kingdom Football Policing Unit (UKFPU) that "all options were on the table" as late as 15 October and therefore there was no reason for them to believe that a ban on away fans was the likely SAG recommendation.

However, the evidence shows the force claimed Mahmood was briefed by Guildford and Home Office officials on 8 October, further confirmed via email, and even by that earlier date the working assumption was the fans would be banned, subject to the SAG's decision.

Speaking in parliament earlier this month, Mahmood said the government was told that a ban was one of the options under consideration and said she did not seek to influence the decision.

"I did not, because I could not," she told the House of Commons, adding the decision to ban the fans "was of national and international importance".

She also said she and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had voiced "considerable concern" about the implications of such a ban.

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