ASTON VILLA have reported Legia Warsaw to Uefa following the shameful scenes of violence which marred last night’s Europa Conference League clash.
And sources close to Uefa claim the Polish side’s fans face being banned from all future away games.
West Midlands Police confirmed 46 Legia fans are in custody following last night’s serious disorder outside Villa Park.
They will be charged with offences including violent disorder, assaulting police officers and possession of weapons.
The chaos, which lasted for more than 90 minutes, was described by one police officer as “the worst violence I’ve experienced in 28 years.”
Mounted police joined riot police and dog handlers as they battled to disperse around 2,000 Legia fans who had been penned into a nearby car park prior to kick-off.
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Four officers were injured in the disorder, which saw them attacked with flares, bricks, metal poles and tree branches.
A statement issued by West Midlands Police revealed: “One officer’s fluorescent jacket caught fire after they were hit with a flare.
“Fortunately his jacket was removed quickly and he was not injured.
“He was later taken to hospital with smoke inhalation after the smoke from the flare made it into his helmet.
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“Another officer suffered a minor hand injury while a police dog and a police horse were injured in the disorder.”
Assistant Chief Constable Damian Barratt said: “This was appalling and completely unacceptable disorder.
“What we saw was 90 minutes of planned violence, with one officer saying it was the worst he had seen in 28 years of policing.
“Our officers bravely put themselves in harm’s way and I would like to commend each and every one of them for their efforts.
“We are committed to charging and remanding any and all responsible for attacking our officers and endangering the public.
“We had no issues with the home fans and would like to thank them and Aston Villa for their support and kind words last night and this morning.
“The only issues inside the ground last night were from a small number of away fans who had managed to get into home areas.
“We will be liaising with the club and footballing authorities in the coming days to discuss last night’s appalling scenes.”
Villa have reacted swiftly to dismiss claims by some Polish media outlets, trying to lay blame on them for failing to provide enough tickets to Legia fans.
And they have already contacted Uefa to report the unacceptable conduct of Legia Warsaw officials ahead of the high-risk tie.
A statement from the club said: “This shocking behaviour followed Legia club officials’ complete lack of cooperation with West Midlands Police, Aston Villa and UEFA throughout the day.
“It started during the standard pre-match operational meeting that commenced at 10.30am on Thursday morning and was attended by UEFA representatives, including UEFA’s security team, as well as West Midlands Police including representatives from both clubs.
“Legia Warsaw refused to confirm if they would accept their allocation of tickets for the match at that point. This is in stark contrast to normal UEFA operational procedures.
“They advised the meeting that they would meet with their supporters at 2.30pm and communicate the decision at 3pm but advised there was a possibility that they would not accept the tickets.
“Despite repeated requests before and after the 3pm deadline for a decision, there was no communication until 4pm when Legia informed Aston Villa that they wished to receive their ticket allocation.
“These tickets were handed to Legia officials immediately upon their arrival at the stadium at 6.16pm.
“To reiterate, Legia officials were advised on a call that included a number of UEFA representatives on November 2 that they would receive an allocation of 1002 – exactly four weeks prior to last night’s fixture.”
Visiting teams to Villa Park would usually receive 5% of capacity which amounts to 2,600 tickets for away supporters.
However, trouble flared during Legia’s last visit to England when they lost 3-1 to Leicester City two years ago and 20 police officers were injured that night as Polish Ultras ran riot.
In light of those disturbances, Villa agreed a revised figure of 1700 tickets with Legia officials nearly four weeks ago, with the full approval of Uefa.
ASTON VILLA’S TIMELINE
According to Villa the following timeline outlines Legia’s refusal to follow normal procedure.
10:30am – Match Day meeting during which Legia failed to accept their ticket allocation and informed those in attendance they would not be able to confirm if they would until 2.30pm.
2.30pm – Legia officials miss the first deadline to report back.
3.00pm – Legia officials miss the second deadline to report back despite repeated calls to them.
4.00pm – Legia officials finally confirm they wish to receive their ticket allocation, with a pick-up point arranged at the stadium.
6.00pm – Villa hand over tickets to Legia to distribute among their fans.
7.00pm – Police who have penned Legia fans into the Witton Lane car park, close to the Doug Ellis Stand they will occupy, begin to release fans.
7.05pm – Legia Ultras orchestrate violence and try to storm through police lines to gain access for ticketless fans, four police officers are injured in the ensuing violence.
8.00pm – The match kicks off – no Legia fans have been allowed into the away section.
However, when Legia fans again fought with Dutch police during their recent tie in Alkmaar, Uefa banned their fans from their next away tie against Zrinjski Mostar in Bosnia.
At that point, the UK Safety Advisory Group – which passes safety certificates for major events – refused to sanction the full 1700 allocation and slashed it by almost 700 to 1002 tickets.
That decision was completely out of Villa’s control and was ratified by Uefa.
Villa claim Legia failed to convey that message to their fans immediately, which led to around 1,000 ticketless fans travelling to the UK.
Furthermore, Villa have accused Legia of being obstructive during a Match Day meeting on the morning of the match.
At the customary meeting attended by representatives of both clubs, Uefa, broadcasters, security staff, police and emergency services, Legia stunned Villa representatives by refusing to confirm if they would accept the reduced ticket allocation.
SunSport understands Legia representatives seemed determined to adopt and endorse their Ultras motto of: ‘Don’t leave anyone behind,’ and were reluctant to accept the reduced allocation.
Uefa observers were present at the Witton Lane car park and witnessed the shocking scenes of violence which followed.
They immediately launched an investigation into the shocking scenes but were quick to praise West Midlands Police and Villa for their handling of the explosive situation.
It now appears certain Legia will face a lengthy ban from travelling to away fixtures after “off the scale violence,” erupted for the third time in recent away trips.
At the height of the violence Villa raced to collect fire extinguishers from the stadium and nearby supporters hall and supplied police with them to try and douse the flames from hundreds of flares.
At one flashpoint Legia thugs tried to overturn a police van which was blocking their route.
SunSport understands some Legia fans arrived in the UK hell-bent on causing mayhem and spoiling for a fight with police or Villa fans.
We understand border police found Mixed Martial Arts mitts and gum shields in the luggage of some fans, who had clearly come prepared to battle.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
