The police watchdog has told Sky News it will assess evidence provided by West Midlands Police to MPs and consider the findings of a review into how its intelligence assessment was used to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from Aston Villa.
The force is accused of misrepresenting the threat to justify advocating the exclusion of the Israeli club’s fans from the Europa League match in Birmingham in November.
An Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) spokesperson told Sky News: “It is right for public confidence and police accountability that the force’s involvement in the decision-making process is examined by all relevant organisations, including the IOPC.”
West Midlands Police (WMP) has already had to apologise for providing misleading evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee.
The force’s leadership faced further scrutiny from MPs on Tuesday about why they had only just revealed details of concerns about the local community in Birmingham apparently wanting to “arm” themselves against Maccabi fans.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has called for the resignation of Chief Constable Craig Guildford, claiming he presented an “inversion of reality and misled a parliamentary committee”.
The force told MPs on 1 December that the local Jewish community backed the ban on Maccabi fans from the Europa League match in November, but it later apologised to the committee and said there was “never any intention to mislead whatsoever”.
In a rare move, Mr Guildford was recalled to face questions for the second time in two months by the Home Affairs Select Committee.
“It is important for us to assess all available evidence before we make decisions over whether we should undertake any independent conduct investigations,” the IOPC spokesperson said.
“That includes evidence provided to the Home Affairs Select Committee, plus a review by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) of the intelligence picture and risk assessment provided by West Midlands Police to the Safety Advisory Group which helped inform the decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from the match. That report is expected to be available soon and we will consider its findings.”
‘Significant levels of hooliganism’
WMP only revealed why it wanted Maccabi fans banned hours before the match in an interview with Sky News.
While the threat to Israelis was a “consideration”, Chief Superintendent Tom Joyce said it was “not the primary driver”. He instead referenced intelligence about Maccabi’s own “significant levels of hooliganism”.
Maccabi has acknowledged it has a problem with violence and anti-Palestinian racism in parts of its fan base, which led to a recent UEFA punishment.
But it was only revealed by WMP this week that in early September, days after the Europa League draw by UEFA paired Villa with Maccabi, the force already had “high confidence intelligence” of “elements of the community in West Midlands wanting to ‘arm’ themselves”.
That was not clear in meetings of minutes of a safety advisory group only recently released.
‘Capitulated to Islamists’
WMP confirmed to MPs on Tuesday it was concerned about “vigilante groups” attacking Maccabi fans but also said Israelis were found online “goading local community members”.
Committee chair Dame Karen Bradley MP said: “It feels to us, from everything we’ve seen, that there was a need that you felt, that you had to justify banning these fans, and that scraping was done to find a reason.”
Mr Guildford responded: “That was absolutely not the case.”
Ms Badenoch said West Midlands Police had “capitulated to Islamists and then collaborated with them to cover it up”.
She added: “They knew extremists were planning to attack Jews for going to a football match, and their response was to blame and remove Jewish people instead.”
The force did not respond to a fresh request for comment today.
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The IOPC said it had not received any conduct or complaint referrals from WMP or the West Midlands police and crime commissioner about the conduct of individuals at the force.
“We have liaised with both and will continue to monitor the situation,” the watchdog said. “Should we receive any referrals they will be thoroughly examined.”
