The troubled image of International soccer took yet another in a long list of hits yesterday as British Soccer fans, battled with Italian soccer fans and Italian police in the football stadium in Rome. By the time the running battles had been quelled by police, 18 Manchester United fans found themselves in Rome hospitals suffering a number of injuries at the hands of Italian fans and police.
They battled in the streets on the way to the stadium, they battled from their seats in the stadium and if the British had been allowed to leave the stadium after the game, they perhaps would have had to battle their way back the way they came.
As hard as it may be to believe, considering its checkered past, its the British fans that are being painted as the victims of the soccer stadium violence. Most of the reports coming outso far, have it that the Italian security forces were particularly quick to their batons when it came to the British fans and not quite so fast to work when the Italian fans were making trouble.
Mind you reputation means everything, and the travelling British soccer fan over the years has been a most destructive lout at times, though to be fair, they've cleaned up their act quite a bit in the last decade or so. But last night, that apparently meant nothing as the riots raged.
Television pictures show the Italian police wading into the British side of the barrier seperating them from the rest of the crowd and delivering blow upon blow of truncheons, prior to that the two groups of fans had taken to launching missiles at each other across that same barrier. (see Sky TV photo gallery) (Live Leak video item here)
Before the game, the British fans had been warned of potential trouble as the hardcore fans of the Roma squad, the Ultras were expected to make the Manchester United sides fans feel less than welcom in Rome. British fans were told by their own Football Association to stay off the subways and stay away from two particularly dangerous bridges where ambushes were possible.
It makes for a rather surreal image, of tear gas wafting across the stadium, blood streaming from open wounds on cracked skulls and riot police pushing and prodding soccer fans into a small holding area until the stadium cleared. The British fans had to wait at least ninety minutes before they could leave the stadium after the match, in order for Italian police to move along the Roma fans waiting outside.
This was not the first incident of violence in Italy this season, in fact the Italian league has been the scene of some of the ugliest of incidents that the soccer world has seen in the last number of years. Violent confrontations have taken place time and time again, leading to more than a few instances of games being placyed in front of empty stadiums as punishment for fan mis-behavior.
Somewhere in all that drama they managed to play a soccer match, Roma won 2-1, though nobody seems to be talking much about the game anymore.
Needless to say, the battles of Rome have become fodder for England's rather excited press, here's a sample of the day's coverage thus far!
The Independent--United fans hurt as violence flares in Rome
The Guardian--Police clash with United fans at Rome's Olympic Stadium
The Star--Battle of Rome
The Mail--Roman riot as United fall in Italy
Metro-Football fans in bloody clash
Mirror-Man United Fans in Hospital after Clash
The Times-United’s worst fears realised as Rome proves hostile territory
Manchester Evening News-Fans terror on the terraces
Sky News-Trouble in Roma
BBC--Fans in hospital after violence
They battled in the streets on the way to the stadium, they battled from their seats in the stadium and if the British had been allowed to leave the stadium after the game, they perhaps would have had to battle their way back the way they came.
As hard as it may be to believe, considering its checkered past, its the British fans that are being painted as the victims of the soccer stadium violence. Most of the reports coming outso far, have it that the Italian security forces were particularly quick to their batons when it came to the British fans and not quite so fast to work when the Italian fans were making trouble.
Mind you reputation means everything, and the travelling British soccer fan over the years has been a most destructive lout at times, though to be fair, they've cleaned up their act quite a bit in the last decade or so. But last night, that apparently meant nothing as the riots raged.
Television pictures show the Italian police wading into the British side of the barrier seperating them from the rest of the crowd and delivering blow upon blow of truncheons, prior to that the two groups of fans had taken to launching missiles at each other across that same barrier. (see Sky TV photo gallery) (Live Leak video item here)
Before the game, the British fans had been warned of potential trouble as the hardcore fans of the Roma squad, the Ultras were expected to make the Manchester United sides fans feel less than welcom in Rome. British fans were told by their own Football Association to stay off the subways and stay away from two particularly dangerous bridges where ambushes were possible.
It makes for a rather surreal image, of tear gas wafting across the stadium, blood streaming from open wounds on cracked skulls and riot police pushing and prodding soccer fans into a small holding area until the stadium cleared. The British fans had to wait at least ninety minutes before they could leave the stadium after the match, in order for Italian police to move along the Roma fans waiting outside.
This was not the first incident of violence in Italy this season, in fact the Italian league has been the scene of some of the ugliest of incidents that the soccer world has seen in the last number of years. Violent confrontations have taken place time and time again, leading to more than a few instances of games being placyed in front of empty stadiums as punishment for fan mis-behavior.
Somewhere in all that drama they managed to play a soccer match, Roma won 2-1, though nobody seems to be talking much about the game anymore.
Needless to say, the battles of Rome have become fodder for England's rather excited press, here's a sample of the day's coverage thus far!
The Independent--United fans hurt as violence flares in Rome
The Guardian--Police clash with United fans at Rome's Olympic Stadium
The Star--Battle of Rome
The Mail--Roman riot as United fall in Italy
Metro-Football fans in bloody clash
Mirror-Man United Fans in Hospital after Clash
The Times-United’s worst fears realised as Rome proves hostile territory
Manchester Evening News-Fans terror on the terraces
Sky News-Trouble in Roma
BBC--Fans in hospital after violence
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