POLITICAL pressure played a part in a ban on Jewish football fans, MPs suspect.
They said councillors with an axe to grind were given too much say before Maccabi Tel Aviv’s game with Aston Villa.
A Home Affairs Committee report cited cases of a Lib Dem councillor and a Labour councillor — who has since died — campaigning against the fixture taking place.
It recommended politicians be banned from sitting on safety advisory groups — one of which made the decision in November.
In their damning report, the crossbench group of MPs wrote: “It is clear that on this occasion councillors, with a stated political aim, had a disproportionate opportunity to influence SAG (Safety Advisory Group) decision-making on a deeply divisive political issue.”
The Europa League game fan ban was also based on faulty police intelligence about violence involving Maccabi supporters.
Read More on Politics
West Midlands Chief Constable Craig Guildford stepped down over the backlash.
The MPs said police relied too much on incorrect AI information to justify the ban.
It meant a game between Tel Aviv and West Ham that never took place was used to assess threat levels.
The committee also criticised the Prime Minister and Home Secretary for stoking tensions by criticising the ban too late.
Most read in The Sun
The Home Office and West Midlands Police both said they would learn from the findings.
Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Timothy said: “The Maccabi ban should serve as a sign of things to come if we surrender our criminal justice system to the politics of communalism.”
