01 December 2023 , 17:30
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A top cop says Uefa should consider throwing Legia Warsaw out of Europe after serious crowd trouble at Villa Park.
Mark Roberts, the head of UK football’s policing, believes European football’s governing body should take action against the Polish club following disgraceful scenes outside the stadium. Four police were injured and 46 arrests were made as the security force battled against flares, bottles and metal poles from around 2,000 fans before Aston Villa’s Europa Conference League tie.
Serious problems occurred at Leicester City two years ago and in Holland this season at Alkmaar. Legia’s supporters were subsequently banned from travelling to Bosnia for their second Group E fixture.
Roberts said: “My view is that there should be very serious consideration for excluding them from the competition. Because what price public safety and the safety of police officers when the club has a proven record?
"The concerning thing is these things can be difficult to manage when everyone is pulling in the same direction. That's the host club, visiting club and police.
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"I've worked with the Polish police and they are very good to work with - and I'm sure they were last night. But last night was a very challenging situation and sometimes you have to think: Is there any viable way of managing this other than perhaps to send a message and exclude them from the competition?
“I think we'd have to look at ways we can support whatever police force has the misfortune to have to host them. And decide whether there's a case for the Safety Advisory Group to exclude away fans or restrict them.
"But as we've seen that can be difficult if people are going to turn up anyway.”