The Albany Gazette - UK police admit 'mistakes' over Maccabi Tel Aviv fan ban

West Midlands Police and its chief constable Craig Guildford have been under mounting pressure about how they came to the decision, which sparked political outrage in Britain and Israel.

Birmingham's population is 30 percent Muslim, according to the last census in 2021, and has seen several protests in support of Palestinians since the start of the war in Gaza, including on the night of the match.

Interior minister Shabana Mahmood on Wednesday said she had lost confidence in Guildford, after a preliminary policing watchdog report found the force "overstated" the threat posed by Maccabi fans to justify the ban.

"The chief constable of West Midlands Police no longer has my confidence," Mahmood, who is also a local Birmingham MP, told parliament.

The publication of the independent police watchdog's report comes after months of scrutiny of the police force over the ban.

The report led by police chief inspector Andy Cooke accused the force of "confirmation bias".

"Rather than follow the evidence, the force sought only the evidence to support their desired position to ban the fans," said Mahmood.

Cooke's review "shows that the police overstated the threat posed by the Maccabi Tel Aviv fans, while understating the risk that was posed to the Israeli fans if they travelled to the area," Mahmood added.

In a statement, West Midlands Police said: "We are extremely sorry for the impact these have had on individuals and their communities," the statement said.

"We know that mistakes were made, but reiterate the findings that none of this was done with an intent of deliberate distortion or discrimination."

The interior minister currently does not have the power to sack Guildford. But the regional police boss, who does, has so far declined to.

In a statement on Wednesday, West Midlands police and crime commissioner Simon Foster said he was awaiting a parliamentary report on the matter before considering Guildford's position.

Maccabi fans were blocked from travelling to the match by the local Safety Advisory Group (SAG), which cited safety concerns based on advice from the police force.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer criticised the move, as did Israeli politicians who denounced the decision as antisemitic.

- 'Inaccuracies' -

West Midlands Police had classified the match as "high risk", but the police watchdog found eight "inaccuracies" in their advice to the SAG, including a reference to a non-existent game between Tel Aviv and West Ham, which was an "AI hallucination".

Earlier on Wednesday, Guildford apologised to MPs for providing erroneous evidence when he was questioned by them earlier this month.

He had previously told MPs the error was the result of a Google search and denied the force had used artificial intelligence.

But in a letter to MPs on Wednesday, Guildford admitted the erroneous information was due to the use of Microsoft Copilot, an AI chatbot.

The watchdog's report said other inaccuracies included West Midlands Police "greatly" exaggerating the problems in Amsterdam in November 2024 after Maccabi fans clashed with locals there, the review said.

These included overstating the number of Dutch police officers deployed during the match and claims that fans were linked to the Israeli army.

The review found "no evidence" to show that antisemitism was involved in the local police's advice to SAG, but highlighted that the force "failed to consult representatives of the local Jewish community early enough".

Mahmood noted that while the government did not have the power to remove Guildford, it had been more than 20 years since a home secretary last made such a statement of no confidence in a police chief.

(B.Smith--TAG)