ASTON – Sport and politics just don’t mix. Sure, world leaders have long weaponised World Cups and Olympic Games. Yes, Colin Kaepernick taking a knee helped ignite a movement that transcended the NFL.

And of course, Fifa’s president Gianna Infantino was present at October’s Gaza peace summit in Egypt and is also set to hand out a new “peace prize” at December’s World Cup draw in Washington DC, where US president Donald Trump is expected to attend.

But apart from that, sport and politics just don’t mix.

So to Birmingham, and specifically Aston, a ward where Islam is the predominant religion – and so the war in Gaza is felt even more acutely – and where Aston Villa’s controversial Europa League tie against Israeli side Maccabi Tel Aviv went ahead on Thursday night.

Eleven arrests were

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