Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has urged West Midlands Police Chief Constable Craig Guildford to resign after an independent inquiry found "a failure of leadership" over the decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from an Aston Villa match. The report concluded the force overstated threats, engaged poorly with the Jewish community and even referenced a non-existent fixture described as an "AI hallucination." Mahmood says she will seek to restore dismissal powers for home secretaries, while a public accountability meeting is set for Jan. 27.
UK Home Secretary Urges West Midlands Police Chief To Resign After Inquiry Into Ban On Maccabi Fans
FILE - Maccabi Tel Aviv's fan is escorted by police ahead of the Europa League soccer match between Aston Villa and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Birmingham, England, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Darren Staples, file)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
U.K. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood on Wednesday publicly urged West Midlands Police Chief Constable Craig Guildford to step down after an independent inquiry criticised the force's decision to ban supporters of Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv from an Aston Villa match in Birmingham last year.
The report, led by Chief Inspector of Constabulary Andy Cooke, concluded there had been "a failure of leadership" at West Midlands Police. It found the force overstated the threat allegedly posed by Maccabi fans while downplaying the risks to those supporters, and that it "conducted little engagement with the Jewish community" before deciding on the ban.
"The force sought only the evidence to support their desired position to ban the fans," the report said. Inspectors did not find the force to be antisemitic.
The ban, imposed for the Nov. 6 fixture against Aston Villa, came amid heightened concerns about antisemitism in Britain following a deadly attack on a Manchester synagogue and amid calls for sports boycotts of Israel over the war in Gaza. The force had described the match as "high risk" citing current intelligence and incidents that followed a Maccabi fixture against Ajax in Amsterdam last season.
FILE - Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, left, is reflected as Britain's Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood speaks to members of the Jewish community at the Community Security Trust (CST) in north west London, Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. (Carlos Jasso, Pool Photo via AP, file)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Mahmood also highlighted a police reference to a non-existent 2023 match between Maccabi and West Ham, which inspectors described as an "AI hallucination." Guildford had previously rejected AI as the explanation for that error but apologised ahead of the report's publication.
Under current rules—changed in 2011—home secretaries do not have the power to dismiss chief constables; that authority rests with locally elected police and crime commissioners. Mahmood said she does not currently have the power to sack Guildford but is seeking to restore dismissal powers to future home secretaries.
West Midlands Police acknowledged that "mistakes were made" but did not name the chief constable in its statement. West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster said he recognised the "significant strength of feeling" around the episode and will demand further answers from Guildford at a public accountability meeting on Jan. 27.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer and other senior figures criticised the ban when it was announced, and the episode has prompted renewed debate about policing decisions around high-profile sporting events and the role of intelligence and community engagement in those judgments.
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