Aston Villa protest organiser: 'there will be no violence'

'There will be no violence'

The Chair of West Midlands Palestine Solidarity Campaign has pledged there will be no violence from his organisation at a protest planned ahead of Aston Villa's game against Maccabi Tel Aviv this evening.

The group are calling for the match, which kicks off at 8pm, to be cancelled, along with Stop the War Coalition, Muslim Association of Britain, Friends of Al-Aqsa, Kashmir solidarity campaign and Palestinian Forum in Britain.

The game hit the international headlines after local authorities said that Maccabi fans would be blocked from attending the game, with West Midlands Police classifying the fixture as high-risk based on “current intelligence and previous incidents."

Naeem Malik said he is expecting tens of thousands of people to gather around Villa Park to protest at the Israeli side's inclusion in international sport.

'A carnival of hate'

Fan Eliot Pollak, who is Jewish, is not attending the match tonight. He says he's not expecting "mass brawls" but that the thought of his club being used as a "backdrop to a carnival of hate" would make him sad and spoil his happy memories.

Flags and banners

Pro-Palestine protesters have been seen trying to hang a banner from the gates of Villa Park.

Anti-Israeli banners are also up on fences surrounding the ground.

School closures

A school near to Villa Park confirmed to ITV Central that they are planning to close early today. E-ACT Mansfield Green Academy in Albert Road, which is around half a mile from Villa Park, said that they are closing at 2pm to help parents and carers with congestion and disruption nearby.

Council leader "concerned about the impact" The Leader of Birmingham City Council, John Cotton, earlier told ITV News Central that he was "concerned about the impact" that the decision will have on the reputation of Birmingham, and said he disagrees with the decision made by the Safety Advisory Group to ban supporters of the Israeli football club from attending the clash.

Cllr Cotton told ITV News Central that he respects the independence of the group but added that he wants to emphasise that Birmingham has to be "a welcoming place where people can come and enjoy all that Birmingham has to offer without fear or favour."

Since the ban, Maccabi Tel Aviv revealed it would not apply for tickets for its fans even if the ban was overturned.

Police: "Anyone who breaks the law will be dealt with directly, as will those who incite hate."

West Midlands Police say that more than 700 officers will be part of a "large policing operation" tonight.

Police say they have been working with Birmingham City Council, Aston Villa Football Club and colleagues in other emergency services, for tonight's policing operation.

The force says "Anyone who breaks the law will be dealt with directly, as will those who incite hate."

Uniformed officers, police horses, police dogs, the drone unit, road policing unit, protest liaison officers and others will all be out in force.

The Police and Crime Commissioner, Simon Foster, said,

“Whatever one’s views about events, leading up to this evening’s football match, there is one matter and one matter alone, about which we must all agree. The safety and security of everyone involved, must be the one and only top priority.

“That includes the local community, fans attending the match, people exercising their right to peaceful protest, the players, team officials, club staff, police officers and staff and the wider West Midlands."

People are being warned to expect significant disruption to the roads in the area, and are being asked to avoid the area where possible.

The football

Ahead of press conferences from both teams, journalists were warned that the sides' representatives were here to talk about the football.

Aston Villa Head Coach, Unai Emery

Emery told journalists how happy he was to be playing in Europe.

Maccabi Tel-Aviv manager, Zarko Lazetic

Lazetic was asked about the atmosphere around the match but responded that "we're focussing on the football". He described Villa as a "great opponent."

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