UK gov response to Israeli football fan ban ‘inflamed tensions’ – report

The police recommendation to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters from a game last year used false Microsoft Copilot AI data

The British government’s late intervention to ban fans of an Israeli football club from a Europa League match in Birmingham last year only served to “inflame tensions,” according to a UK parliamentary report published on Sunday.

West Midlands Police (WMP) were found to have relied on fake AI-generated information referencing a non-existent football match when preparing a safety assessment that classified Maccabi Tel Aviv fans as high risk. It was used to support the force's recommendation to bar the team’s supporters from a match against Aston Villa in November.

“Government intervention was clumsy and came too late, and we reject the Government’s argument that it could only intervene once the decision was taken,” Chair of the Home Affairs Committee Karen Bradley said in the report. The eventual intervention “did little more than inflame tensions,” she said.

The report did not rule out that the local council’s Safety Advisory Group (SAG) original ban was “politically influenced.”

“It is clear that on this occasion councilors, with a stated political aim, had a disproportionate opportunity to influence Safety Advisory Group decision-making on a deeply divisive political issue,” it said.

Mumtaz Hussain, councillor for Birmingham’s Aston ward, took part in the early SAG deliberations, but had lobbied against Israeli fans in her political activities, yet did not recuse herself due to potential bias until mid-way through the process, it said.

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The issue of visiting Israeli fans became a divisive topic among some in Birmingham – which is around 30% Muslim – due to pro-Palestinian sentiment regarding the Gaza conflict.

The police took no appropriate steps to consult the local Jewish communities on the potential ban, while actively engaging other groups, according to the report. The WMP appeared to show a “that’ll do” attitude, believing that “banning Maccabi Tel Aviv fans would make policing the match much easier,” it said.

“It is vital that trust is rebuilt. West Midlands Police must repair the damage that has been done,” Bradley said in the report.

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In the wake of the scandal, WMP Chief Craig Guildford resigned.

The fourth largest in the UK by personnel, the force has a history of misconduct, including a number of convictions among officers in recent years.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the WMP’s now infamous Serious Crime Squad left a string of more than 60 quashed convictions following the unit’s alleged use of tampering with evidence, falsified confessions, and use of torture. The squad was disbanded in 1989 after allegations of endemic misconduct, however none of its members were prosecuted.