West Midlands Police Chief Constable Should beSacked......

You're a Brummie and you think it's everyone's fault except the locals around the ground. Hilarious.

That sort of behaviour is, I agree, reprehensible. But unfortunately the government is on sticky ground because it’s their modus operandi. Want to put up taxes? Blame it on a made up black hole. When the OBR disputes that there is a black hole run a smear campaign against it and gaslight the British public by doubling down on the lie. You can see why the Chief constable of Birmingham thought it was an acceptable approach…!

Having seen previous behaviour from these fans a ban is justified. Being Jewish doesn't mean you can be violent thugs.

My understanding was that they made the decision, then googled/tried to find evidence to justify their decision later. Extremely concerning insight into how the organisation works

The whole thing was mishandled from the start. Even before it became known that the “intelligence” wasn’t true, I thought that. The police should not be partisan, whether it’s politics or football (in this case both). He should have just said that due to the two teams involved and the tensions surrounding the situation in Gaza, there was a high likelihood of disorder in the West Midlands area as a result of the match going ahead which his force did not have the resources to capably control. Should politicians feel there was value in the match going ahead, the government would need to find additional funds and call on mutual aid from other forces to ensure adequate police resources to keep fans and all members of the public safe, regardless of their football allegiance, religion or political views.

It’s always annoys me intensely that when there’s so much money floating around in football it’s left for the public purse to pay for policing the streets outside the stadium.

So that’s that, but in addition someone’s head should roll for the complete lack of due diligence - I mean, come on! Fact checking things off the internet is taught in schools!

I don’t trust the police at all. This is because of my dealing with them so I am not surprised at all by this. I was born in Birmingham.

Most of the incidents you mention are based on unverified claims, not backed up by the relevant authorities or reliable reports. Its the exact reason the Chief Constable was investigated; because he relied on hearsay, social media claims, his own bias, and because he was too cowardly to try to manage the violence being threatened by the local community towards the fans.

There are bad actors in all large groups, that doesn't mean you ban the whole group and as evidenced in the investigation, there are numerous instances of football fans from other teams with far worse track records that have been managed in a way that allowed the non-violent fans to enjoy the game, without impacting locals.

This is the route to tyranny.

I find it very disturbing that a police decision was made based on Googling regardless of whether it was the correct decision or not.

The number of times I've told DD not to believe everything she sees on the internet.

Is this what passes for intelligence now?

He might well have been right. But he lied to get there. And it was hugely controversial. So you’d think he would have had the sense to erm, not make things up to get the result he wanted.

I’d be cannot be trusted on this point, it brings the whole organisation into disrepute.

Brummie here.

I think our Chief Constable made the right decision. Maccabie fans have a reputation for being thugs. They take a pride in it. The team has had to play matches behind closed doors before and most recently the team was given a one match ban by FIFA in December because of the racist chanting of their fans and their Nazi salutes (as reported by Jewish newspaper). I don't want thugs like that coming to the city where I live, chanting their vile slogans - or do the Maccabie apologists here think that chants like "There are no schools in Gaza, as there are no children left" are acceptable in a residential area, where the Villa ground is located, and where children live? Would the Maccabie apologists here find that acceptable around their children?

I don't want thugs who chant a slogan known as "the Maccabie rape song", on the streets of the city where I live making women of all ages and ethnicities feel unsafe.

I reiterate that I support the West Midland Chief Constable's decision to keep the people of Birmingham safe.

YANBU at all. I’d quite like the people voting YABU to explain their thinking.

It’s disgusting.