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17
Feb
Ripon academic to present major report on controversial football fan ban in House of Lords
A Ripon-born academic whose research resulted in a police chief constable losing his job is to present a nationally important report at the House of Lords next month.
Dr Adam Dickson, who left King James’s School in Knaresborough in 2016, is now a lecturer at the University of Durham, and his work focuses on antisemitism in English football.
Recently, his research has been at the heart of a national controversy surrounding the decision to ban supporters of the Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv from a UEFA Europa League match against Aston Villa last November.
Highly contentious
The decision, which was made in light of information from West Midlands Police (WMP), was highly contentious, but the force said at the time that it was meant to avoid violent clashes, and that it was based on evidence provided by Dutch police, and on fans’ behaviour at previous matches.
Dutch police later disavowed claims attributed to it, weakening WMP’s rationale.
Crucially, though, it turned out that WMP’s research into the match included the use of the artificial intelligence (AI) tool Microsoft Copilot. Specifically, it referenced bad fan behaviour at a match between the Israeli club and West Ham United that never actually took place.
'Evidence didn't add up'
It was Dr Dickson who first shed light on this flaw in WMP’s decision-making process. He is the lead author of an official report on the matter, produced for Lord Mann, the government’s independent adviser on antisemitism.
Speaking to the Stray Ferret, he said:
We found the evidence just didn’t add up, but the fact that this match referenced by WMP just had never happened hadn’t been picked up by anyone on the safety advisory group (SAG) committee [that took the decision to ban the fans].
The revelation that AI had been used – badly – to make such an important decision was explosive, and the chief constable of WMP, Craig Guildford, eventually retired from the force prematurely after the home secretary said she had no confidence in him.
Dr Dickson said:
I think it was the right decision for him to step down. There has to be a certain level of accountability when decisions cause a detrimental impact on a community already trying to heal from recent events.
Decisions made to protect members of certain communities are valid. But if you decide to prohibit travelling fans for their own protection, then you have to ban the home supporters too.
The decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans has resulted in a loss of confidence [in the Jewish community] not only in the police, but also in the people elected to represent us.
Rise in antisemitism
Politicians, police chiefs, community leaders and others have been particularly concerned about antisemitism over the last 18 months, as widespread opposition to Israel’s military action in Gaza has in some cases gone beyond simply criticism of Israel.
In Harrogate, for example, veteran Liberal Democrat councillor Pat Marsh was accused of posting antisemitic tweets and resigned her position. She is due to appear at York Crown Court in the summer, charged with distributing written material to stir up racial hatred.
Dr Dickson co-wrote The Review of the Circumstances Surrounding the Prohibition of Maccabi Tel Aviv Supporters from the UEFA Europa League Fixture Against Aston Villa, with David Hirsch, the academic director of the London Centre for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism.
They will present it at the House of Lords on March 19, and Dr Dickson freely admits he’s “absolutely terrified”, but he hopes his work will have a lasting impact. He said:
The imposter syndrome is massive. I'm just a boy from North Stainley – how did that happen? But I’m very grateful for the opportunity.
I hope our recommendations will effect change to positively impact all communities and also change the way these things are done in future.
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