Decision to ban Israel fans from Aston Villa fixture 'not politically-influenced'

Police chiefs facing scrutiny over a decision to ban fans of an Israeli football team from attending a match in Birmingham have insisted the move was not politically influenced.

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 6 November.

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.

The cross-party group of MPs also grilled Birmingham city bosses on Tuesday over whether it was appropriate for councillors who were "campaigning publicly" to stop the football game in its entirety to be on the Sag.

They said minutes from Sag meetings showed pressure coming from two councillors, who pressed that away fans should not attend the game.

WMP chief constable Craig Guildford earlier told the committee: "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."

Birmingham City Council leader John Cotton was asked about concerns of potential conflict of interest and why misconduct proceedings had not been triggered over the councillors.

He said: "I would like to reflect, given what I've heard today at this committee and some of the issues that have emerged on what the appropriate next steps would be.

"I don't want to pre-judge any standards process, but I think it's important that I reflect on what I've heard from the committee here today."

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 5 September 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."

Ahead of the evidence session on Tuesday, the committee published an external police review following the high-profile fallout from the decision that suggested the "least-worst" option would be to allow a limited number of fans to the game.

A peer review carried out by the UK Football Policing Unit, requested by Mr Guildford, said: "In essence there is no preferable option, but the least-worst would be away fans with a reduced allocation, or subject to ongoing discussions with Government to retain the ban on away fans."

Further correspondence received by the committee on 5 January from Lord Mann, the Government's independent adviser on antisemitism, on the wider context of the fallout warned there is a campaign by "organised extremists to target and remove Jewish people and their perceived allies from football ongoing at present".

He said: "People who have come forward to me are reluctant to go public and sometimes reluctant to involve the police.

"However, I can inform the committee that intimidation has been so severe that there has been police protection and advice provided by several police forces in recent times, some ongoing.

"There have been major incidents that I have been involved with in Scotland, the North, the South East, the East Midlands, the West Midlands, and Greater London inside football.

"I suggest that the cases I am aware of are the tip of the iceberg."

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 for the confusion when pressed for more clarity by Dame Karen.

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 31 March.