52 people were arrested at Alkmaar station last night before the AZ-Aston Villa match started. They are suspected of insult, incitement or disrupting public order. A knife was also seized.
The first arrest took place around 5:15 p.m. One of the suspects had a knife with him and was arrested for illegal possession of weapons. Ten minutes later a second arrest took place, a man was arrested for insult and incitement. The police used pepper spray during this arrest.
Text continues below the tweet.
To view this content you must accept cookies.
Shortly afterwards, a group of Aston Villa supporters on the platform were checked to see if they had a ticket for the match. During the check, the police thought they saw a knife. When they wanted to check this, the group fled in a stationary train. No knife was found.
Balaclavas and narcotics
These 50 fans were removed from the train with the help of the riot police and arrested for, among other things, disturbing public order. A number of them resisted the arrest, after which the riot police deployed force and used pepper spray. Balaclavas and narcotics were found on the train. None of these Aston Villa supporters appeared to have a card with them.
The police report that their actions were ‘focused on preventing disturbances’, which would have ‘nipped in the bud any threat of disruption to public order’.