Kemi Badenoch calls on police chief to resign after banning Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from Villa Park

It comes after chief constable Craig Guildford was grilled by MPs on Tuesday after supporters of the Israeli team were instructed not to attend the Europa League fixture at Villa Park on November 6.

Ms Badenoch has since suggested Mr Guilford's position is now "untenable."

She wrote on X: "West Midlands Police capitulated to Islamists and then collaborated with them to cover it up.

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"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.

"They presented an inversion of reality and misled a Parliamentary Committee. We have had enough of this in Britain. The Chief Constable’s position is untenable.

"The British Police serve the British public, not local sectarian interests."

The ban was announced by a local "safety advisory group" - which included police, local politicians and council officials - three weeks before the game, citing a "high risk" of unrest similar to that seen in previous Maccabi matches.

However, a report into this decision, published 16 days before the match, concluded that a limited number of Israeli fans should be allowed to attend.

It also found that senior officers made the call after receiving intelligence that locals were hostile to the Maccabi fans because of their nationality and that some wanted to “arm” themselves if away supporters were allowed.

Mr Guildford told the Commons home affairs select committee that he had asked for a review of the decision following a a major political and public outcry.

This review, overseen by chief constable for Cheshire and head of the UK football policing unit Mark Roberts, stated: "In essence there is no preferable option, but the least worst would be away fans with a reduced allocation, or subject to ongoing discussions with government to retain the ban on away fans."

It also revealed that concerns abut fan safety were not prompted by the behaviour of Maccabi fans, but by “high confidence intelligence” received on September 5 regarding potential "non-football issues between away fans and the local community".

Maccabi had already said many of its supporters would not attend because they were concerned for their safety in Birmingham.

At a police planning meeting on September 22, held on the assumption that away supporters would attend, officers were told: "It is clear that there is a growing suggestion of local hostility towards the visitors based on their nationality.”

Disorder before and after Maccabi's match against Ajax in November 2024 was seen as the "tipping point" in the West Midlands Police's approach.

Police reported that 500 "hardcore Maccabi supporters" who were "very well organised, un-cooperative and militaristic" carried out "indiscriminate attacks on Muslim taxi drivers, flag burning, marches and Islamophobic chanting such as ‘Why are there no schools in Gaza, because all the children are dead.'"

The safety advisory group concluded on October 7 "that the safest option was to have no away supporters attend".

This was also the police "preference" and no further options were explored.

This decision would "increase the risk and scale of opposing protest groups", the expert review concluded.

It continued: "The issue of policing protest and community tension becomes the focus in the absence of rival football supporter behaviours. The narrative will not remove the over-arching risk entirely regardless of which option is implemented.

"In essence there is no preferable option, but the least worst would be away fans with a reduced allocation, or subject to ongoing discussions with government to retain the ban on away fans."