US EditionWest Midlands police chief apologises after AI error used to justify Maccabi Tel Aviv ban
West Midlands Police chief apologized after an AI error falsely cited a match with West Ham, leading to a ban of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans at a high-risk Europa League fixture.
- On Tuesday, Craig Guildford, Chief Constable of West Midlands Police, apologised to the Home Affairs Committee after admitting false intelligence from Microsoft Copilot led to banning Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters from the November 6 match at Villa Park.
- The local Safety Advisory Group announced the ban three weeks before the game after West Midlands Police submitted an intelligence report citing a 'high risk' of unrest and local hostility.
- At a committee appearance in December, Guildford said the fictitious 2023 match came from 'some social media scraping', while Lord Mann highlighted West Ham United have never played Tel Aviv and police assessment drew on Dutch police commanders' information.
- Sir Andy Cooke's report was handed to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who ordered an HMICFRS investigation and will make a statement to MPs on Wednesday amid calls for West Midlands Police leadership to resign.
- A review overseen by Mark Roberts recommended reduced away fan allocations or retaining the ban after 'high confidence' intelligence on September 5 and disorder in November 2024 shaped West Midlands Police's approach.
48 Articles
48 Articles
Police chief apologises for using AI as evidence in Maccabi Tel Aviv ban
The Home Secretary has said she has lost confidence in the chief constable of West Midlands Police after a watchdog report criticised the way Israeli football fans were banned from a match at Aston Villa. But Shabana Mahmood does not have the powers to remove Craig Guildford even though he was also forced to apologise to MPs for misleading them over the ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters.
UK police admit 'mistakes' over Maccabi Tel Aviv fan ban
UK police on Wednesday admitted "mistakes" over the decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from a Europa League football match against Aston Villa in Birmingham, as calls mounted for the under-fire local chief constable to be sacked.West Midlands Police and its chief constable Craig Guildford have been under mounting pressure about how they came to the decision, which sparked political outrage in Britain and Israel.
Microsoft Copilot blamed by UK police for an error that led to a controversial soccer fan ban
More than 700 police officers were deployed ahead of November's match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Aston Villa.Lab Ky Mo/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty ImagesA UK police official admitted that his department used AI ahead of a controversial decision.West Midlands Police chief constable Craig Guildford apologized to lawmakers for initially telling them AI wasn't used.Guildford said Microsoft Copilot created a fictitious game that officers did …
Deny, deny, admit: UK police used Copilot AI “hallucination” when banning football fans
After repeatedly denying for weeks that his force used AI tools, the chief constable of the West Midlands police has finally admitted that a hugely controversial decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv football fans from the UK did involve hallucinated information from Microsoft Copilot. In October 2025, Birmingham's Safety Advisory Group (SAG) met to decide whether an upcoming football match between Aston Villa (based in Birmingham) and Maccabi Tel Av…
At Aston Villa vs. Maccabi Tel Aviv, no guest fans were allowed in November. There was a co-responsible AI error.
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