West Midlands Police repeat claims ‘trashed by the Dutch police’ in letter to key parliamentary committee

However, both the JC and the Sunday Times have cited Dutch accounts of the disruption around the Ajax game, disputing West Midlands Police’s version of events.

According to the official statement of facts (feitenrelaas) by Amsterdam Police Chief Peter Holla and Chief Prosecutor René de Beukelaer presented to the Amsterdam municipality and obtained by the JC, ahead of the fixture, authorities in the Netherlands concluded: “The supporters of Maccabi Tel Aviv do not have a violent reputation.”

Moreover, despite the aggressive behaviour of a small minority of Maccabi fans in Amsterdam, authorities found that it was the Israeli fans who were the target of “groups that are looking for a confrontation with Maccabi supporters” and, of the 59 arrests that were made, just 10 were Israeli and the remainder Dutch.

Speaking to the Sunday Times, Sebastiaan Meijer, a spokesman for the Amsterdam division of the Dutch Police, refuted the figures cited by West Midlands Police: “In total we came to 1,200, in different shifts, though … I read 5,000 police. That number is so not true”.

And he added that he had no evidence that 600 Maccabi fans “deliberately targeted” Muslims.

Responding to the letter, Joani Reid, Labour MP and chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group Against Antisemitism, who sits on the committee, told the JC: “West Midlands Police say they acted on intelligence but where did that intelligence come from? Because it doesn't seem to have been the Dutch police.”

She went on to say that the issue at stake was far more than just a football game:

“There is undoubtedly a growing and increasingly aggressive campaign to target Jews in public life and to delegitimise any expressions of collective Jewish identity which are not explicitly hostile to Israel.

“[It is] deeply concerning that West Midlands Police gave every impression it had been corralled into the camp of those seeking to exclude Jews.”

Conservative MP Nick Timothy told the JC: “This is incredibly serious. The claims made by West Midlands Police in their so-called intelligence dossier have been trashed by the Dutch police, and yet West Midlands Police have continued to repeat this discredited information to a Parliamentary committee.”

He continued: “We need the Government to compel the police to publish all the information they used to justify the decision to ban Israeli, Jewish fans from Villa Park.”

Also in the letter, O’Hara claimed that, on the night of the fixture itself, he was “satisfied that the policing operation conducted with communities and partners was effective, proportionate and maintained the city’s reputation as a safe and welcoming place for everyone”.

Timothy had filmed an account of his visit to the fixture where a pro-Palestine demonstrator called him a “dog” and told him to “f*** off”; he accused police officers on the ground of taking the side of the demonstrators.

On Monday, the Villa fan and former special adviser to ex-Prime Minister Theresa May, was granted an Urgent Question on the topic, forcing the government to comment on the issue.

Although the policing minister, Sarah Jones, said she was “limited in what I can say about the specific intelligence underpinning [West Midlands Police’s] decision”, she told MPs that the home secretary had commissioned His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services to look at how police forces provide advice to local safety advisory groups (SAGs) ahead of high-profile events, with initial findings expected by next March.

“This inspection will consider whether police advice takes proper account of all relevant factors, including the impact on wider community relations and whether the balance between public safety and community consideration is being struck effectively”, she added.

In the chamber, Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp launched an attack on the leadership of West Midlands Police.

“Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were banned under the threat of antisemitic mob violence and a highly politicised anti-Israel campaign. Let me be clear: we must never allow the threat of mob violence to dictate policy. West Midlands police cited concerns about the Tel Aviv fans based on a previous game in Amsterdam, but the Dutch police have now shown that those concerns were completely false”, he told MPs.

“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.”

Asking what the government were doing to hold West Midlands Police to account, he said that the force’s chief constable should resign unless they have a good explanation” for the apparent discrepancies

The Croydon South MP also cited the “vehement” anti-Israel views of two members of the Aston Villa SAG, Waseem Zaffar and Mumtaz Hussain, first revealed by the JC, whom he said “were not impartial”.

Responding, Jones said that while she agreed that the threat of mob violence should not stop matches from going ahead, she expressed concern that he was “jumping the gun a bit with some of the phrases he has used”.

“We are not clear on that at this point, and I do not want this House to take what was in the newspaper yesterday and jump to conclusions. That is not to say that we do not want to get to the bottom of what happened.”

West Midlands Police has previously defended its decisions in the face of criticism.

 A spokesperson for the force said: “West Midlands Police’s evaluation was based primarily on information and intelligence and had public safety at its heart.

“We assessed the fixture between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Amsterdam as having involved significant public disorder.

“We met with Dutch police on October 1, where information relating to that 2024 fixture was shared with us.

“Informed by information and intelligence, we concluded that Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters – specifically the subgroup known as the Maccabi Fanatics – posed a credible threat to public safety.

“The submission made to the SAG was based on information and intelligence which helped shape understanding of the risks.

“West Midlands Police commissioned a peer review, which was conducted by UKFPU (United Kingdom Football Policing Unit), the NPCC (National Police Chiefs' Council) and subject matter experts.

“This review, carried out on October 20, fully endorsed the force’s approach and decision-making.

“We are satisfied that the policing strategy and operational plan was effective, proportionate, and maintained the city’s reputation as a safe and welcoming place for everyone.”