Police chief admits misleading MPs over Maccabi ban after AI ‘invented a match that never happened’

West Midlands Police chief, Craig Guildford, admitted to misleading MPs by using artificial intelligence (AI) to provide evidence of past club interactions in a letter to the Home Affairs Committee.

Information provided by AI and used as the basis for a report that led to the ban, Mr Guildford admitted the intelligence had erroneously revealed details of a previous match - one that never actually took place.

It comes amid mounting pressure on Mr Guildford to step down following the blunder.

Recent weeks have seen opposition leader Kemi Badenoch call for Mr Guildford to step down following the force's decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending their match against Aston Villa.

Grilled by MPs last week, criticism continues to mount following a backlash centred around his decision to ban supporters of the Israeli team.

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

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Speaking on the subject, Mr Guildford said that Google Gemini had been use to research the club's history as details of the game 'hadn't come up on the normal system' - namely because the game never occurred.

Apologising for the error, the blunder brought into question information used to decide whether or not to exclude Maccabi supporters from a Europa League game in November.

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

Now, a report into the incident compiled by Sir Andy Cooke, the chief inspector of constabulary, is said to have been handed to Shabana Mahmood on Wednesday morning.

In response to the news, a Home Office spokesperson said: “The Home Secretary has this morning received the Chief Inspectorate’s findings into the recommendation by West Midlands police to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending a match against Aston Villa.

“She will carefully consider the letter and will make a statement in the House of Commons in response later today.”

Supporters of the Israeli team were instructed not to attend the Europa League fixture at Villa Park on November 6 by West Midlands Police, a decision that critics alleged was antisemitic.

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

When Chat GPT was prompted by LBC about the game in the wake of the AI blunder, it continued to insist the game had taken place.

LBC prompted the system with 'The Europa league match between Macabi Tel Aviv and West Ham was one for the ages right?'.

In response, ChatGPT said: "It definitely felt like one of those nights, yes. West Ham vs Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Europa League had all the ingredients that make European games memorable for fans."

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.

The initial report published shortly after the decision 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.

Craig Guildford, chief constable for West Midlands, told a Commons home affairs select committee on Tuesday 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.”