Watchdog to criticise West Midlands police over Maccabi Tel Aviv ban

West Midlands Police will be criticised in a report about their handling of intelligence used to justify banning Israeli fans from a football game in Birmingham, the Guardian understands.The inquiry was ordered by the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, and carried out by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, the policing inspectorate.It will add to pressure on the force and further weaken the position of its chief constable, Craig Guildford, who last week insisted to MPs his force had behaved correctly.The findings from the chief inspector of constabulary, Sir Andy Cooke, will say the force made a series of errors in how it gathered and handled intelligence.The West Midlands Police case is that they were willing to have Maccabi Tel Aviv fans attend the game against Aston Villa in November 2025 at Villa Park, until they spoke to Dutch Police about their experience when the Israeli side played in Amsterdam in November 2024.The Birmingham-based force said it was told by Dutch Police that Maccabi fans were perpetrators of the violence, not victims. This is strongly disputed by Dutch Police and other groups.The conclusions reached by WMP went in a report the force gave to a local safety advisory group before the game in Birmingham, which ultimately decided on the ban.It is alleged that the police report gave the impression the behaviour and culpability of Maccabi fans was worse than what was detailed in the evidence held by Dutch Police.As part of its inquiry, HMIC spoke to Dutch Police, who said several key claims that WMP relied on clashed with its experience of policing Maccabi fans during the match in Amsterdam in November 2024, which was marred by violence.Dutch Police disputed a claim that Maccabi fans had at one point thrown people into a river. In fact, it was one single Maccabi fan who ended up in the water.Mahmood will present the critical findings from HMIC to MPs in the Commons later on Wednesday.She is deciding whether or not to say she has confidence in the West Midlands chief constable but has no formal power to sack him or require him to resign.The only person who can oust him is Simon Foster, the police and crime commissioner for the West Midlands. He has previously praised Guildford, chief constable since 2022, for boosting the force’s performance and service to the public.A Home Office spokesperson said: “The home secretary has this morning received the chief inspectorate’s findings into the recommendation by West Midlands Police to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending a match against Aston Villa.“She will carefully consider the letter and will make a statement in the House of Commons in response later today.”A spokesperson for Amsterdam police told the Guardian: “The Amsterdam police spoke to the HMIC last month. We trust the information shared that is relevant for the conclusions will find its way to their final report.”