Hundreds of protesters at Maccabi-Villa game

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Hundreds of protesters are in Birmingham as the controversial Aston Villa match against Maccabi Tel Aviv kicks off.

A huge police operation with more than 700 officers, dogs, horses and drones is under way for the Uefa Europa League match, which kicks off at 20:00 GMT.

Ch Supt Tom Joyce said several groups had been expected to protest, including pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli campaigners, in the wake of the controversial decision to ban away fans from the game.

"We police football matches a lot. We police protests a lot. We deal with all sorts of public order scenarios, but certainly the level of interest, the level of concern around this match is pretty unprecedented," he said.

Police arrested six people before the match started, three on suspicion of racially-aggravated public order offences.

A man, 21, was arrested for failing to comply with an order to remove a face mask, and a boy, 17 was held for failing to comply with a dispersal order. Another person was arrested for a breach of the peace.

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Pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside the stadium, waving flags and banners calling for an end to violence in Gaza.

A counter protest of pro-Israeli campaigners marched down a road outside Villa Park. Five flatbed vehicles were also driven past the ground prior to kick-off of the Europa League match, carrying electronic billboards showing messages opposing antisemitism.

One message, beside a Star of David, read "Ban hatred not fans" while another carried a quote from Thierry Henry saying football is not about goals but bringing people together.

Reuters

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Aston Villa announced last month that no Maccabi Tel Aviv fans would be welcome at the match, a decision made by Birmingham's Safety Advisory Group following intelligence from West Midlands Police.

The Guardian reported the force's intelligence concluded the biggest risk of violence came from extremist fans of the Israeli club, with scores of fans connected to a past history of violence and shouting "racist taunts" likely to travel to Birmingham.

The decision was the focus of parliamentary-level debate and led to MPs questioning West Midlands Police about the move, but Chief Constable Craig Guildford stood by it.

Maccabi Tel Aviv later said supporters would not travel to Birmingham for safety reasons.

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On Thursday, numbers of officers from the West Midlands force were boosted by police from 10 forces across the country.

Ch Supt Joyce, Birmingham's police commander, said police had prepared for the possibility of people turning up looking for a fight.

"We recognise that those groups who won't engage with this are probably turning up with different motives to those who want to protest lawfully," he said.

"The policing operation you can see is partly a reflection of the need to deal with that."

He told Sky News that "significant levels of hooliganism" among the Maccabi fan base was the reason for the ban.

Police are using Section 60 powers - which allow officers to stop and search anyone - in an area stretching from Aston and Perry Barr to Birmingham New Street and the city centre, which started at midday and run until 03:00 on Friday.

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Villa supporter Adam Selway turned up for the match wearing a half-and-half scarf in the colours of the home side and Maccabi Tel Aviv.

The 48-year-old said he felt sympathy with fans unable to attend and simply wanted to watch a football match, but that he was not making any political statement.

"It's not about politics, it's about football," he said. "It's not the Villa fans that don't want anyone here – the Villa fans want the away fans here."

Earlier, those living and working in the city near Villa Park saw shops and schools close early.

Meanwhile, Jewish Villa fan Elliot Ludvig described his apprehension about attending the match.

Mr Ludvig, who was going to the game with his son, told the BBC: "I'm apprehensive about what's going to happen. I'm apprehensive about the potential for violence for one thing.

"I'm apprehensive about various unpleasantries that we might encounter along the way, both outside the stadium and inside the stadium."

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'Football unites us'

He said his other major emotion was "disappointment".

"Is it worth going to a football game to potentially put myself at some sort of risk and or expose my son to to all sorts of unpleasantries which you might not want to?," he asked.

Those who called for calm included one fan group, the Punjabi Villans, which urged people to respect each other and for everyone to get home safely, posting on social media: "We're in this together. Football unites us."

On Wednesday night, the chief executive of Maccabi Tel Aviv Jack Angelides said it was "incredibly sad" his side's fans could not be there, adding: "Politics should never be drawn into football."

As plans for protests were drawn up earlier in the week, Naeem Malik, chair of West Midlands Palestine Solidarity Campaign, said there had been national outrage over the hosting of the Israeli team.

"The calls to cancel this match have been ignored despite the risks that it carries, therefore we must urge activists to unite in protest against this match," he said.

Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Stop the War Coalition, Muslim Association of Britain, Friends of Al-Aqsa, Kashmir solidarity campaign and Palestinian Forum in Britain had called for the match to be cancelled and jointly organised one of the protests.

Reuters

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