It comes after West Midlands Police decided to ban fans of Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv from Birmingham for a match against Aston Villa last month, triggering multiple questions in Parliament and furious claims about potential antisemitism
12:11, 10 Dec 2025Updated 12:13, 10 Dec 2025
West Midlands Police Chief Constable Craig Guildford(Image: Nick Wilkinson/Birmingham Live)
The Chief Constable of West Midlands Police has been ordered to go back to Parliament amid claims evidence given to MPs over the Maccabi football fans ban was ‘misleading’.
Craig Guildford and his assistant chief constable Mike O’Hara have come under fire over the quality of the evidence they gathered to decide to ban fans of Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv from Birmingham for a match against Aston Villa last month.
They appeared before the powerful Home Affairs Committee last week, where they were lambasted for failing to fully interrogate evidence and provide clarity about why they instigated the ban.
At the heart of the force’s decision to recommend a ban on the Israeli fans was an unminuted, unrecorded conversation between one of its chief inspectors and three Dutch police commanders about a previous Maccabi game against Ajax which had resulted in violent disorder.
The contents of that conversation have since been widely disputed by Dutch police and MPs.
In a letter sent to Guildford today, Wednesday December 10, he is asked to return to the House of Commons in the new year to answer further questions. This is a highly unusual step that suggests the committee was unhappy with the evidence given already.
The committee’s chair Dame Karen Bradley is also requesting further intel from Birmingham City Council and the UK Football Policing Unit about their roles in the ban decision.
Protesters outside Villa Park before the match between Aston Villa and Maccabi Tel Aviv – away fans were not in attendance
It marks a massive escalation of pressure over the controversial ban, which has triggered multiple questions in Parliament and furious claims about potential antisemitism, led by the Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
The chief constable has denied he is ‘considering his position’ over the row.
The Europa League game between the Israeli club and Villa took place on November 6 with no away fans present. Protests for and against the ban took place, with a significant police presence still required to keep the peace. There were 11 arrests.
In her letter, Bradley tells Guildford that ‘in the light of subsequent developments, we have a number of questions relating to the actions of West Midlands Police in respect of this fixture.’
She says it is her ‘strong expectation that you will return to give further oral evidence to the committee in the new year.’
She has also requested a range of intelligence and evidence to back up claims made by Guildford and O’Hara during their evidence. All of the evidence requested has been separately requested by BirminghamLive and other media, so far to no avail, including via Freedom of Information requests.
West Midlands Police cited safety concerns when confirming the decision to ban fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv, pictured during a match in Amsterdam last year(Image: Getty)
The requested documents include:
• A copy of the Community Impact Assessment carried out for the fixture, including details of when and how Jewish community representatives were consulted
• A copy of the email summarising the Chief Inspector’s meeting with Dutch police
• A summary of any communication West Midlands Police had with Maccabi Tel Aviv regarding the fixture, including confirmation that you were not informed the Ultras were not attending
• A summary of any communication West Midlands Police had with UEFA regarding the fixture
• A summary of the communication West Midlands Police had with the UK Football Policing Unit regarding the fixture
• A summary of the communication West Midlands Police had with the Home Office ahead of the fixture
• Details of the risk assessment conducted for the Aston Villa v Young Boys fixture (held last week, resulting in serious violent outbreaks inside the Villa ground) including intelligence gathered on the Young Boys Ultras.
She also requests clarity around the remarks made to the committee by Assistant Chief Constable O’Hara, who initially said that Jewish community representatives objected to the presence of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans but had since rowed back on that and apologised for it being ‘untrue’.
She warns in her letter: “Misleading Parliament, intentionally or otherwise, is a serious matter and we would be grateful if you would correct the record and explain how this mistake occurred.”
Birmingham City Council are also asked to act urgently to provide information about its deliberations around the game.
In a separate letter to the council’s head of resilience and operations, Michael Enderby, they request the minutes of the three meetings of the Safety Advisory Group which discussed the fixture and reached the decision to instigate the away fans’ ban, based on the police’s recommendation.
“The committee feels that this disclosure would be in the public interest given the significant concern about the decision to exclude Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending the match.”
They have also asked if the group considered a report by Lord Mann, independent government advisor on antisemitism, into the events in Amsterdam, and whether the group also considered a report by the organisation ‘Game Over Israel’ as part of its deliberations.
The committee has further pressed the UK Football Policing Unit to release all of its correspondence and reports relating to the game, and a copy of its peer review of the decision reached by West Midlands Police.