West Midlands Police chief under pressure to resign over Maccabi Tel Aviv fan ban

The decision to ban fans of the Israeli club from their Uefa Europa League fixture against Aston Villa on November 6 has faced criticism, including from the Prime Minister.

Police have been accused of wrongly suggesting they consulted local Jewish leaders on the ban.

Assistant chief constable (ACC) at WMP, Mike O'Hara, informed the Home Affairs Select Committee of MPs earlier this month police had been told by members of the Jewish community they did not want Maccabi fans to attend the match prior to the game.

CC Guildford also wrote to the Committee, claiming: "We engaged with key community figures such as the chair of Birmingham and West Midlands Jewish Community, Ruth Jacobs."

Ms Jacobs has since written to the Committee Chairwoman, Karen Bradley, and Policing Minister, Sarah Jones, confirming that this was not the case. She was also unaware of any other Jews being approached.

"It is terribly unfortunate the way this has been portrayed. We were not aware of this ban until after it was imposed," Ms Jacobs said.

Alternatively, it is said that eight Muslim groups, including three who have been accused of hosting antisemitic preachers, were consulted.

The force has since admitted there was "no documented feedback" that British Jews wanted fans of the Israeli club banned, despite their claims.

They also apologised for "any confusion caused", insisting "there was never any intention to mislead whatsoever."

Shadow Home Office Minister Katie Lam has now questioned whether CC Guildford can continue in his role, after what she described as a "serious breakdown in leadership and accountability".

"It is simply extraordinary that the force made up of ‘intelligence’ and made false public statements," she said.

"The chief constable has serious questions to answer, and if he cannot satisfactorily answer them, he must resign."

Police have repeatedly cited troubles in Maccabi's fixture against Ajax a year prior as a major part of their justification for the ban, including a reliance on Dutch intelligence from that game - intelligence that Dutch authorities have since labelled as false or misleading.

West Midlands Police had claimed as many as 600 Maccabi supporters deliberately attacked Muslim neighbourhoods while they were in Amsterdam. Dutch forces have since said that "provocations came from both sides."

The force also alleged that fans pushed members of the public into canals and that 200 supporters had connections to the Israeli military.

Dutch police had no reference for this claim, and the five people convicted in Amsterdam in 2024 were all for violence against Israelis.

It has also emerged there were two anti-Israel Birmingham councillors, Waseem Zaffar and Mumtaz Hussain, at the safety advisory group meetings, who ultimately took the decision to ban the fans three weeks ahead of the fixture.

In the Commons on Monday, the Tory MP Nick Timothy said: "On October 7, the police told a private meeting that they planned to ban Israeli fans from Villa Park. That was, to quote the minutes, ‘in the absence of intelligence.

"On October 9, they accepted that they needed to find a clearer rationale for the decision already made. On October 16, they said they had suddenly found significant intelligence for a ban.

"That supposedly came from a conversation with the Dutch police on October 1, before the first meeting held in the ‘absence of intelligence’. Does the Home Secretary believe West Midlands police—yes or no?"

CC Guildford, along with Chief Constable Mark Roberts, head of the football policing unit, and John Cotton, the Labour leader of Birmingham city council, will be questioned by MPs on Tuesday.