Officials defend police action against fans

Italian security officials again defended the conduct of police in clashes with Manchester United fans, saying Friday the officers were defending themselves and that the visiting supporters started the violence.

Italian security officials again defended the conduct of police in clashes with Manchester United fans, saying Friday the officers were defending themselves and that the visiting supporters started the violence.

The government’s top security official in Rome, prefect Achille Serra, called a news conference to show several video clips from Wednesday’s Champions League match against AS Roma in which he said it was clear the English team’s fans started the clashes. Serra was responding to complaints from United fans that the police overreacted. “The officers couldn’t escape at this point,” he said, showing one clip in which the police were pushed up against a barricade in the stands. “They were completely surrounded.”

The Italian Interior Ministry said late Wednesday the British Embassy and the Italian police were working together to determine what happened.

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UEFA is awaiting reports from match and security officials on the clashes; both clubs could face a disciplinary hearing. During the match, which Roma won 2-1, police in riot gear clashed with some of United’s 4,500 fans. Police hit fans with batons as opposing fans taunted and threw objects at each other across the partition separating the rival sections.

Tensions were high after United issued a pre-game warning on their website to fans traveling to Rome. It told fans to avoid certain areas of the city and not to use the train system because “there is a real danger of being attacked by the ‘Ultra’ fans of AS Roma.”

Serra again blamed the warning for helping incite the violence, saying Rome was “the safest metropolis in the world.” Serra said the injured included three United fans who were stabbed and another 14 United fans with lesser injuries.