Josh Sandifordin Birmingham
Reuters
Away fans will not be allowed to attend next month’s Europa League match in Birmingham between Aston Villa and Israeli side Maccabi Tel Aviv
The chief constable of West Midlands Police says the force “hasn’t failed anybody” as he defended the decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from next month’s fixture with Aston Villa.
An announcement by Birmingham’s Safety Advisory Group (SAG) to stop travelling fans attending the Europa League fixture on 6 November on safety grounds was widely condemned by politicians including the prime minister.
The government said it would fund any necessary policing operation to allow Maccabi’s fans to attend, before the Israeli club said it would decline their ticket allocation anyway because of a “toxic atmosphere”.
But Chief Constable Craig Guildford said on Wednesday he respected the decision, which was based on intelligence, and said: “Birmingham hasn’t failed anybody and neither has West Midlands Police.”
Birmingham’s SAG, which is the body responsible for issuing safety certificates for matches and made up of police, Birmingham City Council, fire and ambulance services, informed Villa last week no travelling fans would be permitted at the match.
Craig Guildford is the chief constable of West Midlands Police
Mr Guildford said that despite “good support” from the government, officers had professionally considered the risk and provided advice.
“I’ve read some of the intelligence that’s been received and the assessment that’s been made,” he added. “It’s based on professional judgement.”
Risk assessments that led to the ban have not been made public, but The Guardian has claimed police concluded the biggest risk of violence came from extremist fans of the Israeli club.
‘We never please everyone’
Mr Guildford added his force would “continue” to provide advice to the SAG and respect decisions made by the group.
“Decisions have to be respected if they are made,” he said.
“They are made with good, grounded understanding of the threat and what the risk is. Our job as the police is to try and keep everyone safe.”
Mr Guildford rejected suggestions that community confidence in the force had been impacted by the decision to ban away fans.
“We try our level best, from me all the way down in the organisation, to make sure we give the community confidence,” he said.
“We get lots of feedback around how reassuring our approach has been in certain communities. We will never, ever, please everyone.”
Israel Police
Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv was filled with smoke before the scheduled kick-off
On Sunday, an Israeli Premier League derby between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Tel Aviv was cancelled before kick-off on Sunday, after what police described as “public disorder and violent riots”.
Villa have now announced their ticketing policy for the match, insisting that only supporters with a purchase history prior to this season will be able to access a ticket.
The Israeli embassy in the UK said it was “deeply concerned by the hostility and incitement” that led to Maccabi withdrawing their away ticket allocation.
In a statement, Birmingham City Council said on Wednesday: “The Safety Advisory Group has provided advice to Aston Villa Football Club based on a risk assessment provided by West Midlands Police.
“If there is a change in the assessment of risk in the forthcoming match, then the Safety Advisory Group will commit to review its decision as appropriate.”
Police operationally independent
On Monday, Reform MP Danny Kruger said the government should overrule the ban using powers in the Police Act, rather than asking local authorities “politely if they’ll change their decision”.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said there was a long-standing principle that police were operationally independent.
Downing Street later said that the powers did not apply, and could only be used on “rare occasions” when a force could not function effectively.
Nandy said the risk assessment in the Aston Villa case was “based in no small part on the risk posed to those fans that are attending to support Maccabi Tel Aviv because they are Israeli and because they are Jewish”.
“Now, we should be appalled by that and never allow it to stand,” she added.
But Ayoub Khan, whose Birmingham Perry Barr constituency is home to the Villa Park Stadium, claimed there was a “deliberate disingenuous move by many to make this a matter of banning Jews”.
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