by Olivia Christie, Daily Mail
The decision to ban Jewish football fans from attending a match against Aston Villa was partly influenced by pressure from local councillors, MPs have concluded.
Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters were barred from travelling to the Europa League game at Villa Park in Birmingham on November 6 following advice from police.
West Midlands Police based their case on disorder during a previous match, when fans from the club headed to Amsterdam to face Ajax in November 2024.
Officers told The Aston Villa Safety Advisory Group at a meeting one month before the match that 5,000 Dutch officers had to be deployed for several days to deal with disorder.
No evidence was found to support this and it later emerged that the incorrect figure came from an entirely unrelated game in Paris.
However, the Home Affairs Committee has now ruled that Birmingham councillors had a ‘disproportionate opportunity to exert influence’, undermining trust that decision-making was based on evidence and safety.