The former chief constable of West Midlands Police is facing a gross misconduct investigation over the banning of Israeli Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters from a football match against Aston Villa last November. The Independent Office for Police Conduct, known as the IOPC, announced it has given notice of the investigation to Craig Guildford, along with three police officers and one staff member.
According to BBC News, the IOPC launched an independent investigation in January to examine the role of West Midlands Police in planning and preparing for the match at Villa Park on November 6, 2025. Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters were barred from attending after West Midlands Police prepared a safety report that was later found to contain eight errors. Those errors included overstating Maccabi supporters' involvement in disorder in Amsterdam in 2024 and referencing a non-existent match between Maccabi and West Ham, a section said to have been produced by Microsoft Copilot.
His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary, Sir Andy Cooke, said confirmation bias influenced the way West Midlands Police reached and communicated its recommendation to ban the fans. "I have several other concerns including, but not limited to, inaccurate information in written communication, a failure to engage with the local Jewish community early enough and poor record keeping and retention of important information," he said.
The IOPC said evidence indicated that Guildford may have had oversight of the intelligence briefing document presented to Birmingham's Safety Advisory Group, which included representatives from West Midlands Police and Birmingham City Council and ultimately made the decision to impose the ban. The watchdog said the document "gave an imbalanced view of the risk away fans posed" and that Guildford "may have failed to ensure due diligence and the highest level of scrutiny over such an influential document."
The ban drew national and international attention, with the government saying at the time that it would do everything in its power to overturn it. Guildford retired from the force after both Downing Street and the home secretary said they had lost confidence in his leadership. When he announced his retirement, he did not offer an apology and attributed his departure to what he described as the "political and media frenzy."
If gross misconduct is proven against Guildford at a misconduct hearing, he would likely be placed on a barred list that would prevent him from working in policing in the future.
