Politics
The Maccabi Tel Aviv fan ban and West Midlands Police controversy – a timeline
The key dates and developments in the ongoing dispute that shows no sign of fading away
January 6, 2026 15:21
The key dates and developments in the ongoing dispute that shows no sign of fading away
January 6, 2026 15:21Senior officers at West Midlands Police (WMP) today face a further grilling from MPs over the the conversations that led to the decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending their team’s Europa League fixture with Aston Villa last November.
The controversy that began to swirl immediately after this decision was announced shows no sign of fading away as new revelations have continued to emerge, with WMP’s Chief Constable, Craig Guildford, facing fresh calls to resign. Here, we break down the key dates and developments in the controversy so far.
November 7 2024: Maccabi Tel Aviv play Dutch side Ajax in Amsterdam. After the Europa League fixture, fans of the Israeli team are attacked in a coordinated plot. The next day, the Dutch king and political leaders condemn the outbreak of violence, which court reports later reveal plotters described as a “Jew hunt” on WhatsApp.
August 29 2025: Maccabi Tel Aviv are drawn to play Birmingham-based Aston Villa in the Europa League football competition on November 6 2025. Anti-Israel politicians and groups almost immediately begin to mobilise a campaign against the visiting team.
September 17 2025: Local Independent MP Ayoub Khan and local councillor Mumtaz Hussain publish a video calling on UEFA, the UK Culture Minister, and Aston Villa to “urgently cancel this fixture”. Birmingham Labour councillor Waseem Zaffar writes in the Birmingham Mail that he would be boycotting the match to protest Israel’s actions in Gaza.
October 7 2025: The Aston Villa Safety Advisory Group (SAG), of which Hussain and Zaffar are members – along with the police, council and bodies – meets to discuss the fixture. Zaffar and Hussain express community opposition to the fixture taking place. The SAG agrees to work on the assumption that no Israeli fans should be present.
October 16 2025: The SAG formally decides that Maccabi’s clash with Aston Villa will go ahead without fans of the Israeli side present. When the decision is made public it is condemned by political leaders including the prime minister who says: “We will not tolerate antisemitism on our streets. The role of the police is to ensure all football fans can enjoy the game, without fear of violence or intimidation.”
October 20 2025: Maccabi Tel Aviv say that they would decline any ticket allocation should the decision be reversed.
October 21 2025: The JC reveals Zaffar and Hussain’s membership of the SAG. The Guardian newspaper publishes what it says is WMP’s intelligence report on Maccabi fans. It includes claims Maccabi fans “randomly picked Muslims in Amsterdam to attack” and that a police operation in Dutch capital required “5,000 officers”. It also claims that: “A community impact assessment by West Midlands Police recorded that some Jewish people wanted the Maccabi fans banned because of the trouble that might ensue if they attended.”
November 6 2025: The fixture goes ahead with “Zionists not welcome” signs plastered across Birmingham ahead of the match. Pro-Palestine activists descend on the game. A demonstration against the ban on Israeli fans is also held.
November 19 2025: The JC reveals a Dutch police document about events in Amsterdam that questions the narrative from WMP. It reveals that of the 59 arrests made, only ten were Israeli.
November 24 2025: WMP is criticised for repeating figures dismissed by Dutch police in a letter to the parliamentary committee. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp says: “There was no mob of 500 fans targeting the Muslim community in Amsterdam. In fact, many Maccabi fans were themselves attacked. Nobody was thrown in a river, apart from one Maccabi fan. The Maccabi fans were not skilled and organised fighters; that was just made up.”
November 27 2025: The Mayor of Amsterdam tells the JC she does not recognise WMP’s claims of 500 to 600 Maccabi fans “deliberately targeting” Muslims or that 5,000 police officers were required to police them. Sir Keir Starmer tells the JC he is “very concerned and troubled” by the apparent inaccuracies in WMP’s claims.
December 1 2025: Senior WMP officers admit that their intelligence report ahead of the fixture included a reference to a game that never took place between Maccabi and West Ham United. They claim that British Jews backed the ban on Maccabi fans and accuse the Dutch police of underestimating “the level of threat and risk” posed by Maccabi fans.
December 9 2025: Cross-party figures and communal groups back a call for an independent probe into WMP’s actions after the force retracts the suggestion Jews in Birmingham backed the fan ban. The Home Affairs Select Committee chair invites WMP to face a second round of questions from MPs following discrepancies.
January 4 2026: WMP accused of fabricating evidence to justify its ban on Maccabi fans.
January 6 2026: Senior officers at West Midlands Police appear before MPs for a second time.
To get more Politics news, click here to sign up for our free politics newsletter.