What happened

The UK's West Midlands Police recommended a total ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans attending a UEFA Europa League football match against Aston Villa at Villa Park in Birmingham scheduled for November 6, 2025. The force's intelligence report classified the event as "high risk," citing a history of violence involving the Israeli club’s supporters.

Specifically, the report included details of a "2023 match between West Ham and Maccabi Tel Aviv" where significant disorder allegedly occurred. This match never took place. 

Additionally, the report "conflated" and exaggerated accounts of incidents in Amsterdam, claiming 500-600 fans had thrown innocent people into rivers and that 5,000 police officers had been deployed. The figures were later debunked by Dutch authorities and independent inspectors.

The ban remained in place despite criticism from UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. While the match was played without the away fans, the subsequent investigation revealed that the "intelligence" was fabricated by an AI tool.

Why it happened

The core error was the inclusion of inaccurate, fabricated information generated by Microsoft Copilot that was treated as credible intelligence without adequate verification.

Officers, including the police force chief, initially misled Parliament about the use of AI, indicating a lack of transparency and oversight over how such technologies are integrated into official processes. 

Independent reviews cited confirmation bias: police selected intelligence that supported a predetermined decision to recommend a ban rather than weighing all available evidence objectively.