46 people arrested by British police for rioting at European Cup

“ We have now arrested 46 people following last night's violence involving Legia Warsaw fans outside Villa Park ,” Reuters news agency quoted a statement from West Midlands police, Birmingham, England.

In the early morning of December 1 (Vietnam time), fans of Legia Warsaw (Austria) caused a riot outside Villa Park when the team visited Aston Villa in the European Cup C3. The incident happened right before the match started and caused all fans of the away team to be denied entry to the stadium.

Police crack down on riots caused by Legia Warsaw fans.

Despite security warnings and no tickets, many Austrian fans were determined to show up in Birmingham, England. When they couldn’t find tickets to the match, they started rioting. The entire stand that Aston Villa had reserved for Legia Warsaw fans was later emptied.

One police officer was reported to have been seriously burned and three others injured after Legia Warsaw fans attacked the authorities. They said they were being treated unfairly when the home team Aston Villa cut the number of tickets allocated to the away team to less than 1,000. The decision stemmed from concerns about violence that Legia Warsaw fans could cause.

In November 2023, hundreds of Legia Warsaw fans rioted in the Netherlands when the team played away to AZ Alkmaar in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. UEFA then banned the team's fans from traveling to Bosnia to watch the match against HSK Zrinjski. The group of fans' actions were met with strong criticism.

A UEFA statement read: " UEFA strongly condemns the unacceptable violence that occurred on the sidelines of the match between Aston Villa and Legia Warsaw. UEFA is in the process of collecting all official reports from the match before deciding on the next steps ."

After the match, head coach Kosta Runjaic refused to comment on the riots, saying: " I think that's another topic, it's not my business. I was very focused on leading the team. We represent Polish football with a good image, and all the other things outside the stadium I don't want to comment on ."

Legia Warsaw lost 1-2 to Aston Villa in this match.

Mai Phuong

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