The cases / Policing / public safety
Police intelligence cited a West Ham v Maccabi Tel Aviv match that never happened
Admission to MPs; the fan ban covered a November 2025 match.
What the AI said
A previous West Ham v Maccabi Tel Aviv match, which went into the police intelligence report.
What was actually true
The match never took place. Microsoft said it could not replicate the output.
Cost or impact
The error was in the intelligence behind the decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from the Aston Villa Europa League match. The chief constable had told MPs the force did not use AI and that the error came from 'one individual doing one Google search'. He then gave a 'profound apology'.
Who caught it
unknown (not stated in the sources checked)
Check that would have caught it Our analysis
source citation. An intelligence claim needs a primary record, such as a fixture list or match report, attached.
This is our judgment, not something the sources say. How we assign it.
Sources
- theguardian.comhttps://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jan/14/west-midlands-police-chief-apologises-ai-error-maccabi-tel-aviv-ban
- theverge.comhttps://www.theverge.com/news/861668/uk-police-microsoft-copilot-error-mistake
- bbc.co.ukhttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3r1zxgq0j7o
Links last checked Oct 24, 2026. If something here is wrong, send a correction.