POLICE have confirmed that 46 men have been charged after the violent scenes outside of Aston Villa’s clash with Legia Warsaw.
West Midlands Police announced yesterday that 46 Legia fans were in custody following Thursday’s serious disorder outside Villa Park at the Europa Conference League match.
Violent scenes marred Aston Villa’s clash with Legia Warsaw on ThursdayRex
Police have now confirmed 46 men have been chargedRex
They were set to be charged with offences including violent disorder, assaulting police officers and possession of weapons.
Now they have confirmed that 46 charges have been issued.
Villa have reported Legia Warsaw to Uefa following the shameful scenes of violence.
Sources close to Uefa claim the Polish side’s fans face being banned from all future away games after the shameful incident.
The chaos lasted over 90 minutes and was described by one cop as “the worst violence I’ve experienced in 28 years.”
Mounted officers joined riot police and dog handlers to try and disperse around 2,000 Legia fans who had been penned into a nearby car park prior to kick-off.
Four cops were injured in the disorder as they were attacked with flares, bricks, metal poles and tree branches.
A West Midlands Police statement revealed on Friday: “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.
“Another officer suffered a minor hand injury while a police dog and a police horse were injured in the disorder.”
After Villa secured their place in the knockouts with a 2-1 win, 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 swiftly dismissed claims by some Polish media outlets that were trying to lay blame on them for failing to provide enough tickets to Legia fans.
And they have contacted Uefa to report the unacceptable conduct of Legia Warsaw officials ahead of the high-risk tie.
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