Manchester United and their supporters as well as members of the general public have been outraged at the disgusting treatment dished out to their supporters in Rome on Wednesday night.
The BBC has received many calls from family members of those affected by the beatings of the Italian police and the so called Ultras.
One such small group of fans were ambushed by the Utras - these people aren't football fans, but cowards who only pick on easy targets. The Ultras stabbed three of this party before they got to the Olympic stadium, all three ended up in hospital, one is understood to be in a bad way after losing much blood.
On entering the ground the Reds fans were searched and were therefore unable to bring missiles into the stadium, and drinks were served to United fans in plastic containers, however, the Italian fans were allowed to drink out of bottles which were then used as missiles.
The Italian fans rained missiles onto the Reds fans, who then slung them back in the direction they'd come from, and yes, you guessed it folks, people are now blaming the United fans.
Worse still comes the news that the police - or should that be thugs in uniform - were only stationed on the United side of the plastic partition which divided the two sets of fans and once a few United fans went up the plastic partition, that was the signal for the Italian police to wade into the visiting fans and to dish out merciless beating using batons.
According to eyewitness reports the thrashings were indiscriminate and were completely uncalled for. One man was badly beaten over the head with a baton after trying to pick up a lady who'd fallen over in the rush to escape the police. A BBC reporter was among those beaten by the Ultras outside the stadium he too confirmed that the police and Ultras were totally out of order.
Isn't it about time that the Italian police and the Ultras were brought to order? If Uefa and clubs in Italy cannot do this and guarantee the safety of visiting fans then Italian clubs must be banned from Europe.
I totally agree. It was outrageous to see those fans being assaulted like that. I think United and the rest of the English champions league teams should agree not to play matches in Italy until these problems are fixed(which may be never)
ReplyDeleteI don't understand your view completely. I believe that proactive measures must be taken, such as having empty stadium matches, or something more practical, because I'm sure Totti still wants to play in Europe and that he did not want those United fans beaten up.
ReplyDeleteThe players must not be held responsible at all, and the club can suffer its prestige or what ever, but the players should not be held accountable for any club's organisational difficulties.
With all due respect, violence at sporting events seems to be the norm on your side of the Atlantic.
ReplyDeleteRecent news articles in several publications have detailed Ajax fan violence, Feijenoord fan violence, German and French hooliganism, and violence in Italian arenas.
The British have been notorious for the misbehaviour of their soccer hooligans for decades.
I like beer also, but not to the point of making a fool of myself in public.
This isn't the first time Roma's Ultras and the cops have been in the headlines for causing havoc both in and outside stadiums.
ReplyDeleteYesterday Steve Howard of the Sun produced a diary listing all of the dates, it consisted of around 10 different incidents which involved fans getting stabbed.
One thing that is 100% guaranteed is that if this sort of thing was happening in England, then Uefa would act and probably kick out the offending club in question.
Where it concerns clubs in Italy or for that matter anywhere in Europe except in England, Uefa turns a blind eye to it. They will more than likely blame United, which for anyone who has studied the footage properly and listened to the evidence of journalists and fans is bang out of order. But this is Uefa for you.
IF you've studied the footage of Wednesdays brutality, you will have seen fans who were doing nothing but sat in their seats getting beaten.
Steve Howard suggested that the cops couldn't wait to wade into the fans, and he's seen this happen many times before in this stadium, as he put it, they were enjoying it.
IF Roma do not have the will to sort this out properly by controlling their cops and if city's like Rome do not have the will to make their streets relatively safe for visiting fans then they should be rightly booted out of Europe until that is in place.
Sadly the interests of the Roma players do not come into this. Only when fans get killed will Uefa take action, if that happens, Uefa will have played a big part in allowing it to happen. Uefa wont be able to say that they were not warned.
Lads, I am writing from Italy. Please be aware that you cannot come to Italy and challenge the police. as you can see they have no problem to beat people - and personally thing that they are right -. But if you are going just to enjoy the match and by quiet, nothing will happens. So please do not blame the police, but who came to the match drunk with a fiting attitude. The same rules is valid from the Italian fans. Every sunday a few are sent to hospital or arrested because they do not behave. I do not think that this is ' brutality '. If you take some action - vandalism, insulting the police or fighting - you will receive the reponse that you deserve.
ReplyDeleteI hope you understand, and sorry for my english ( I am Italian ).
Bye and Forza Roma!!!!!