A police chief today defended banning Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from a match against Aston Villa, saying he acted after Dutch officers warned about their ‘militaristic’ ultras’ propensity for violence.
The decision to bar supporters of the Israeli club from their Europa League game in Birmingham last month sparked a huge backlash – with claims officials were caving into Islamist thugs.
But appearing before MPs today, West Midlands Police Chief Constable Craig Guildford insisted the decision by Birmingham’s Safety Advisory Group (Sag) was based in part on police intelligence from counterparts in Amsterdam.
He told the Home Affairs Select Committee that it was a ‘reasonable decision… made in the interest of the safety of everyone concerned’.
At the time, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he was ‘angered by the decision’.
The fixture had been classified high risk by West Midlands Police, with the force pointing to alleged violent clashes and hate crime offences that occurred during the 2024 Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Amsterdam.
However, Dutch police have disputed the accuracy of this information, the Sunday Times reported, while the Israeli embassy in London accused British police of relying on incorrect intelligence.
But Chief Constable Guildford today insisted Dutch police commanders were ‘unequivocal’ in telling WMP ‘they would never want to have Maccabi Tel Aviv playing in Amsterdam in the future’.
‘The Ultras were very well organised, militaristic in the way that they operated,’ he went on.
‘(The day before the game) they attacked members of the local community including taxi drivers, tore down flags, people were thrown into the river and they sang songs about ”no schools in Gaza because the children are all dead”.
‘They further stated that this group specifically targeted the local Muslim community deliberately.
‘Members of the local wider Muslim community subsequently reacted and deliberately, on the day after mainly, attacked Maccabi fans on match day both before the match and after.’
The Israeli embassy in London said West Midlands Police’s use of ‘disproven allegations’ about Maccabi fans was ‘profoundly misleading, extremely troubling, and risks inflaming tensions’.
In a letter last month to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, the embassy’s charge d’affaires, Daniela Grudsky Ekstein, said: ‘WMP’s decision exemplifies a systematic approach that fails to deal with the real issue – the threat from radical, racially motivated Islamist groups, and shows once again a difference in the treatment of Israeli and Jewish people.
‘WMP’s intelligence report itself acknowledges that the option to ban Maccabi fans ‘may be seen as antisemitic or anti-Israel’ and yet they still chose to pursue that option.’
According to reports this weekend, claims in the West Midlands Police report included that Maccabi fans in Amsterdam threw members of the public into the river and that up to 600 of them targeted Muslim communities.
But a Dutch police spokesman said the claims were not recognised by the force.
The West Midlands force has defended its evaluation and said its plan was ‘proportionate’.
Safety advisory groups bring together the council and police.
Earlier today, the government’s independent adviser on antisemitism – Lord Mann – told the Home Affairs Committee he ‘struggled’ with some ‘inaccurate’ details given by police.
Some of its evidence ‘conflated’ different things regarding a fixture against Ajax in Amsterdam, he said, giving one example of running street battles that did not take place on match day.
Chief Constable Guildford denied the claims, insisting the decision to ban fans ‘wasn’t taken lightly’.
‘We have taken a careful approach,’ he told MPs, adding: ‘We haven’t made anything fit.’
Among those condemning the Maccabi fan ban was Yoni Finlay, a hero of the Manchester synagogue attacks.
The 39-year-old survived being accidentally shot when police opened fire on knifeman Jihad al-Shamie, 35.
Mr Finlay was among worshippers who barricaded the doors of Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue when the attack began.
Mr Finlay, a Manchester United fan, said: ‘How can it be that Jewish people can’t go to a certain area in England? We’re in 2025.’
Mr Finlay is opposed to pushing Jews behind even stronger security measures.
He said: ‘The answer isn’t to keep putting up more walls and we go further behind the gates.
‘We’re not tackling the root cause of it. There has to be real change. We have to stop normalising anti-Semitism, and the government does play a part in it.’
