Police boss who banned Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from match ‘set to retire’

The police chief at the center of a row over banning fans from attending a football match in Birmingham will retire from his post later today.

Craig Guildford, Chief Constable for West Midlands Police, is expected to announce he is stepping down from the role at about 4pm today.

His retirement means that he will still be able to receive his full pension,

It comes after the force faced months of criticism over its decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending the Europa League game against Aston Villa on November 6 last year.

At the time, the force cited concerns about disorder and protest related to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.

A review was then launched into the decision by the policing watchdog, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary. They found that ‘confirmation bias’ influenced the decision to bar supporters of the Israeli football team.

The watchdog said several ‘inaccuracies’ had been included in a report given to Birmingham’s safety advisory group by West Midlands Police, including reference to a non-existent game between between Maccabi Tel Aviv and West Ham.

When giving evidence to MPs about this later on, Mr Guildford said the game was found during a Google search.

But in a letter to MPs, which was published on Wednesday, instead it was found using an AI tool.

He later apologized, saying: ‘I would like to offer my profound apology to the committee for this error. I had understood and been advised that the match had been identified by way of a Google search in preparation for attending HAC.

‘My belief that this was the case was honestly held and there was no intention to mislead the committee.’

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood then said she had lost confidence in him, and his critics urged for him to resign, which he did not do.

Birmingham City Council leader John Cotton said he should stand down or be sacked after the Home Secretary’s statement while the Board of Deputies of British Jews called for him to be dismissed ‘without delay’.

West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Simon Foster, who is the only person who has the power to sack him, refused to remove him from his post, saying instead he wanted to wait for a report to be published from the Home Affairs Committee and to question him at a board meeting on January 27.

Got a story? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@usnewsrank.com. Or you can submit your videos and pictures here.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

Follow usnewsrank.com on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news updates. You can now also get usnewsrank.com articles sent straight to your device. Sign up for our daily push alerts here.