Anger in UK as police chief blames AI for false evidence used to ban Israeli soccer fans |
LONDON, United Kingdom — An under-fire UK police chief on Wednesday blamed the use of AI for erroneous evidence given to MPs over the decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer fans from a match against Aston Villa.
Following the admission, British Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she no longer had confidence in the top police officer.
The police classified the match in Birmingham in November as “high risk,” citing previous Maccabi games, including a Europa League encounter in Amsterdam, which saw clashes between locals and Israeli fans in which Dutch police have said the Israelis were targeted.
The decision to ban Maccabi fans from the Villa Park UEFA Europa League game was slammed by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, with the government ordering an independent report which was due to be published later on Wednesday.
Scrutiny has increased on West Midlands police after multiple pieces of evidence used to justify the ban decision proved flawed, with the force rejecting allegations that the move was motivated by politics rather than fan safety.
In an intelligence report for the game, police cited a match between West Ham and Maccabi Tel Aviv that never took place.
BREAK: West Mids police chief constable Craig Guildford offers “profound apology” and admits that fictitious Maccabi/West Ham match included in police “intelligence” used to justify ban ***was*** generated by AI.
Guildford said the opposite to MPs. pic.twitter.com/Ju7ge7P9JN
— Gabriel Pogrund (@Gabriel_Pogrund) January 14, 2026
When questioned about this by lawmakers earlier this month, chief constable Craig Guildford insisted that the error was the result of a Google search and that the force had not used........