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Manchester United accuse Italian police of over-reacting
MANCHESTER, England (AFP) - Manchester United chiefs accused Italian police of a "severe over-reaction" after they baton-charged supporters of the Premiership club during their Champions League defeat at Roma.
United and Roma fans were involved in fighting outside the Olympic Stadium before Wednesday's game and riot police used batons and tear gas to subdue the visiting supporters when fresh disturbances erupted during the quarter-final first leg, which ended in a 2-1 victory for the Italian side.
Thirteen United fans were hospitalised, one with a stab wound to the neck, as a result of the violence before and during the match and UEFA, European football's governing body, have announced they will investigate.
United are furious with the police's behaviour at the stadium and they insist fans were attacked regardless of whether or not they had been involved in fighting.
The English club admit they are powerless to take action against the police, but they want supporters to submit statements to help a governement investigation into the trouble.
A statement on United's website said: "The distressing scenes witnessed in the Stadio Olimpico on Wednesday night shocked everyone at Old Trafford.
"In what the Club views as a severe over-reaction, local police handed out indiscriminate beatings to United supporters.
"In these circumstances, neither Manchester United nor AS Roma is able to call the police to account.
"As a result, the Club warmly welcomes the Government examination of the incident and will collect witness statements from fans to submit to the Home Office."
Under Italian law, the local police are responsible for safety within their major stadiums and the British Home Office said they will gather information from all relevant sources before deciding whether to approach UEFA about the incident.
Home Officer Minister Vernon Coaker told BBC Radio Five Live: "The scenes that we saw on our television screens were extremely concerning.
"And I would be interested to see the report that comes - not only from Italian police but also from our own police officers who were out there, from the Embassy to listen to the fans themselves and indeed from the club to see what their view of things is and we need some explanation of what actually took place and the police response to it."
Rome's head of police, Achille Serra, insisted the police action was a "justified response", and said there would be no inquiry unless he were shown evidence of any alleged police brutality.
Italian Football Federation president Giancarlo Abete backed Serra's comments and said: "The English press speak of heavy handed police? We owe gratitude to our law enforcers and I don't believe those who try to make games safe can be crucified in this manner.
"I was not present at the Stadio Olimpico...but I will follow the matter closely."
Mark Longden, chairman of the Independent Manchester United Supporters Association, fears supporters will be killed in Italy unless clubs and violent fans are hit with strong severe punishments that will act as a deterrent.
"Enough is enough now," said Longden. "There can be no more whitewashes, with 3,000 pounds fines here and 10,000 pounds fines there.
"We have gone beyond that now. This is a time for decisive action and if UEFA don't take it, I truly believe someone will get killed.
"Questions must also be asked why the police were only on the United side of the barrier. Surely there should have been some on both sides because, while missiles were thrown from the United end, our information is that people were only lobbing things back that had been aimed at them in the first place."
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