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Two British Jewish groups are calling for the ouster of a local police chief over claims that the force allegedly mishandled the banning of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from a soccer game in November.
The decision to ban the fans from a match against Aston Villa Football Club on Nov. 6 was initially made after the West Midlands Police advised the group responsible for issuing safety certificates for the fame to ban the fans over “public safety concerns.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and a host of Jewish groups decried the decision at the time. Now, a parliamentary tribunal has increased scrutiny on the police department’s decision making.
While the police have claimed that hundreds of Maccabi fans had targeted Muslim communities the night before a 2024 game in Amsterdam, Amsterdam police have since disputed their characterization of the confrontation. The violence there was driven by people targeting the Maccabi fans, Amsterdam police have said.
At the tribunal on Tuesday, Chair Dame Karen Bradley accused the local police force of “scraping” to find a reason to justify the ban.
West Midlands Police’s chief constable, Craig Guildford, defended the decision, replying, “I’m really sorry if it comes across in that way. That was absolutely not the case.”
Mike O’Hara, the assistant chief constable, told the committee that “there was a lot of intelligence that people would actively seek out Maccabi fans and seek violence towards them,” according to The Times.
Kemi Badenoch, the British Conservative party leader, said on Tuesday that West Midlands police “knew extremists were planning to attack Jews for going to a football match” but their response was to “blame and remove Jewish people instead,” according to The Times.
“It seems that the police reached a decision first, and then searched for evidence to justify it, apparently influenced by the threat posed by local extremists,” said the Board of Deputies of British Jews and Jewish Leadership Council in a joint statement. “It is also apparent that claims about the previous behaviour of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were unsubstantiated or erroneous.”
The Jewish groups wrote that “significant harm has been done to the confidence of the Jewish community in the Police,” adding that if Guildford does not resign, “responsibility lies with central government to intervene.”
The Israeli Foreign Ministry also wrote that the conduct of the West Midlands Police towards the Maccabi fans was “utterly disgraceful” in a post on X.
“There is a specific term for the phenomenon of scapegoating Israelis and Jews while exonerating the true perpetrators – jihadists seeking to harm Jews. it is called antisemitism,” the post read. “Regrettably, this is the reality of Britain today. There must be action and accountability for such actions.”
The calls for Guildford’s resignation come as Maccabi Tel Aviv is playing in Spain — again behind closed doors as well over security concerns.
On Tuesday, Maccabi Tel Aviv played against FC Barcelona without fans after the team announced the game had been designated as a “high risk.”
And about a game planned for Thursday, Real Madrid said in a statement, “Following a meeting of the State Commission against Violence, Racism, Xenophobia, and Intolerance in Sport, which declared the game high-risk, Real Madrid is complying with the recommendation made by the National Police.”
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