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English football fans in disgrace again, or are they?
SEVILLE, Spain (AFP) - Lurid newspaper headlines in Britain on Friday, after the UEFA Cup match between Sevilla and Tottenham Hotspur, suggested that English football fans had disgraced themselves again.
However, the analysis of Thursday's incidents in Spain which came 24 hours after 13 Manchester United fans were taken to hospital after fighting between rival fans and police at Roma's Olympic stadium in Italy, was rather different.
The words mayhem and madness proliferated many of the British reports on Friday.
By contrast in Spain, what little mention there was of incidents of crowd violence during the 2-1 win by the local side and UEFA Cup holders over the visitors from London was confined to a few paragraphs on the inside pages.
"The behaviour of the English supporters was in general fine except for a group of around 200 violent ones who, from the start of the game, started fighting between themselves and then afterwards with the police," commented Spanish sports daily As.
Pictures of the fighting, which started about 10 minutes into the game, and other Spanish media accounts, suggest that only between 20 to 30 Tottenham fans were actually involved with the group throwing seats and stones at the police.
Sevilla football club themselves said that six Spurs fans had been treated at the ground with three of them taken to hospital for further treatment.
Police initially reported there had been no arrests but later said seven Tottenham supporters had been detained -- six inside the stadium and one outside of the grounds. Eleven officers were slightly injured, police said.
"The behaviour of the Tottenham fans outside the stadium was good. What happened inside the Sanchez Pizjuan was sad, the police had to defend themselves," said a Sevilla vice-president Jose Castro.
With an estimated 4,400 Spurs fans descending on Sevilla on one of the city's main festival days, Holy Thursday, and thanks to the hard-line attitude of UEFA in refusing to move the fixture, problems had been envisaged.
However, the nightmare scenario failed to emerge due to visible policing and the common sense from the vast majority of supporters from both sides. "A better atmosphere was almost impossible to imagine before the game.
Thousands of Spurs fans mingling regularly with many Sevilla fans, with the swapping of scarves and other items," reflected one eye-witness account in the Spanish sports daily Marca.
There was only one negative note before the game, when some Spurs fans dropped or smashed some glasses in a road near the stadium and batons were drawn by the police.
"Statistically something clumsy is going to happen between 4,000 people... a few blows, and then peace," added Marca, perhaps making a little too light of the incident.
Football's European governing body UEFA have already promised an investigation into the clashes inside the stadium.
"Any incidents of crowd trouble in the Sevilla against Tottenham match will be investigated by UEFA," said UEFA communications director William Gaillard, who was at the match.
Tottenham Hotspur released a statement early on Thursday morning."The club will be working with the appropriate authorities to ascertain the events of this evening in Seville."
"Our initial reports suggest there was no fan-to-fan fighting at any stage of the proceedings. As such we are seeking explanations as to why the police reacted in the way they did with our fans.
"Tottenham Hotspur supporters have enjoyed an exemplary reputation across Europe this season which is why the events are unprecedented. We will be co-operating fully with UEFA, the British Embassy and the Spanish authorities to understand why this has happened.
"British Police, the club's security officials, and club stewards - supported by British Embassy officials - will also be providing the Spanish authorities and UEFA with full statements from their first-hand experience of what happened tonight," said the London side.
However, Spanish pundits were left wondering on Friday whether this was, for once, a story of English football hooliganism which had been blown completely out of proportion.
Later on Friday, the BBC Internet site reported Tottenham accused Spanish police of hitting a disabled fan during Thursday's match.
Spurs club secretary John Alexander said: "We know one disabled fan was hit with a baton with such force that it knocked him out of his wheelchair." UEFA said they would investigate.
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