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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
George Flood

Aston Villa condemn 'violent acts' from Legia Warsaw fans against police before Europa Conference League match

Aston Villa have "strongly condemned" what they called "planned and systematic violent acts" committed against police officers by Legia Warsaw fans.

Thursday night's Europa Conference League match between the two clubs was marred by violent pre-match scenes outside Villa Park that saw four police officers injured following clashes with travelling supporters and 39 people arrested.

West Midlands Police have confirmed that one officer was taken to hospital, while two police horses and two police dogs were also hurt in the chaos that involved flares and other missiles being hurled at police and resulted in no away fans being permitted entry into the stadium.

Police called the scenes "disgusting and highly dangerous", while West Midlands mayor Andy Street urged Uefa to take "swift" and "strong" action as he thanked "the brave officers who put themselves in harms way to keep others safe".

Villa released their own strong statement on the trouble, confirming that no away fans had been allowed into Villa Park.

Villa also claimed that "no assistance on the serious safety matter of away fans attending Villa Park" had been forthcoming from Legia, who had a reduced ticket allocation of 1,002 for the game on the advice of safety authorities after previous ugly scenes witnessed before last month's match against AZ Alkmaar in the Netherlands.

Legia fans had been banned from travelling to Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina for their subsequent away trip to face HSK Zrinjski.

Flares and other missiles were hurled at police during violent clashes (REUTERS)

Villa said that "numerous requests" had been made to Legia over cooperation with regards to their travelling fans and that they had repeatedly raised concerns - including on the morning of the game - over ticketless away supporters attempting to attend the match.

"Approximately an hour before kick-off, Legia fans engaged in planned and systematic violent acts against West Midlands Police officers and a decision was then made by West Midlands Police to exclude all Legia supporters," Villa said.

"Aston Villa strongly condemns the behaviour of those visiting supporters and would like to thank West Midlands Police for their professionalism in very difficult circumstances."

The rest of Villa's statement read: "Aston Villa Football Club can confirm that no away fans were allowed into Villa Park for this evening’s UEFA Europa Conference League fixture with Legia Warsaw on the advice of West Midlands Police following large-scale disorder outside the stadium caused by visiting supporters.

"The UK safety authorities, UEFA and Aston Villa, communicated on November 2 that the ticket allocation for away fans for this fixture would be reduced to 1,002 on the advice of safety authorities as a result of previous large-scale disorder caused by Legia fans last month at AZ Alkmaar.

"A number of Dutch police officers were injured during that disorder. As a consequence, UEFA banned Legia supporters from travelling to Mostar for their game against HŠK Zrinjski.

"In spite of numerous requests for cooperation from Legia Warsaw concerning their travelling supporters, especially in the last two days, no assistance on the serious safety matter of away fans attending Villa Park was forthcoming from the visiting club.

"The club has repeatedly, including this morning, raised concerns in conjunction with UEFA and all the relevant authorities to Legia that ticketless away supporters were attempting to attend Villa Park."

In their own statement released ahead of the game on Thursday night, Legia complained that Villa were refusing to allocate tickets to away fans in accordance with Uefa regulations.

Uefa have been urged to take strong action after the unpleasant scenes (David Davies/PA) (PA Wire)

The Polish club said Villa's "restrictive measures" had "unnecessarily exacerbated the atmosphere" and were "counterproductive and baseless", confirming that their official delegation, management board and owner and president Dariusz Mioduski would not attend the game as a result.

"Aston Villa is refusing to allocate tickets to away fans in accordance with UEFA regulations for a UEFA Europa Conference League match," Legia wrote.

"Due to the actions taken by Aston Villa FC as the host club, Legia Warsaw's official delegation, management board and owner will not be present at the hosts' stadium.

"Instead of relieving potential pre-match tensions, Aston Villa’s restrictive measures as the host club unnecessarily exacerbate the atmosphere. In our opinion, such measures are counterproductive and baseless."

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