After UEFA announce they won’t penalise Feyenoord for hooligans damaging historic monuments, Rome police said they feared fatalities.
The Dutch club had been thrown out of the UEFA Cup in 2007 after fans rioted in the French town of Nancy and there were calls for similar punishment after the Fontana della Barcaccia was damaged by rioting.
“UEFA condemns the incidents of violence occurred in the city of Rome on Thursday,” read a statement after the Europa League tie.
After UEFA announce they won’t penalise Feyenoord for hooligans damaging historic monuments, Rome police said they feared fatalities.
The Dutch club had been thrown out of the UEFA Cup in 2007 after fans rioted in the French town of Nancy and there were calls for similar punishment after the Fontana della Barcaccia was damaged by rioting.
“UEFA condemns the incidents of violence occurred in the city of Rome on Thursday,” read a statement after the Europa League tie.
“However, as the incidents occurred away from the stadium, it is outside UEFA's remit to act. It is a matter for the local authorities to investigate further.”
The authorities in Rome came under fire for their handling of the situation and were accused of being too soft on 500 hooligans who rampaged through Campo de Fiori on Wednesday night and Piazza di Spagna on Thursday afternoon.
“We were in contact with the Dutch police and their information, for obvious reasons, changed during the course of the situation,” explained Nicolò D'Angelo in a Press conference.
“We are in possession of 10 hours of video footage. As this was an at risk game, we deployed 1,800 officers between the historic centre of the city and the stadium.
“We did not underestimate the critical nature of the incident, nor disguised our concern. Of these 1,800 men, 600 were deployed in the afternoon to protect various monuments, churches and institutional buildings.
“At the first brawl that erupted in Campo de Fiori, we were round the corner and arrested 23 Dutch fans, bringing in total 40 people into custody.
“Some ask why we didn’t close Piazza di Spagna: it would’ve involved closing the entire historic centre of the city.
“We made a military and strategic decision to watch over the square, seeing as we could not go around with batons in hand threatening the Feyenoord fans.
“Many ask why didn’t we intervene? Simple. We considered it better to monitor the situation and avoid diving in to spark a potentially dangerous situation.
“At that time, the square has children, tourists and there are several schools in the area, so we would’ve created enormous problems.
“We protected the square and the people. Once they emptied out, we slowly pushed them towards the start of Via del Babbuino, because the group of Feyenoord fans had decided against our advice to march towards the stadium in a column.
“This is our mentality: we don’t want to see any deaths. I prefer litter, cans and even marks on the walls. You have to use your head in this case.”