The chief in charge of public order in Rome assures they will not “confine the Liverpool fans” ahead of the Champions League semi-final with Roma.
The second leg is on Wednesday evening at the Stadio Olimpico and security is on red alert after 53-year-old Liverpool fan Sean Cox was left in an induced coma due to an attack by two Roma ultras outside Anfield.
The chief in charge of public order in Rome assures they will not “confine the Liverpool fans” ahead of the Champions League semi-final with Roma.
The second leg is on Wednesday evening at the Stadio Olimpico and security is on red alert after 53-year-old Liverpool fan Sean Cox was left in an induced coma due to an attack by two Roma ultras outside Anfield.
“We have been working for several weeks to prepare for this match, long before the first leg in Liverpool,” the Commissioner heading up the police headquarters in Rome Giorgio Luciani told Radio Radio.
“There are no specific areas of concern. Let’s just say it is an important match both on a sporting level and in terms of public order. The security measures remain high, but obviously with even more emphasis seeing as there is a large number of English fans arriving.”
Police sources were quoted by news agency Ansa as saying they feared up to 1,000 ‘dangerous’ Liverpool fans were out for revenge in a total of 5,000 visiting supporters.
“No, we haven’t received any particular indications to make us think that. We are on high alert and as always our objective is to ensure the home and visiting fans enjoy a day of sport in an inclusive manner.
“Our plans have not changed since the first leg. There will already be a close monitoring of the situation from the day before all over the city, but we had already planned that because it is such a delicate match.
“We do not intend to confine the Liverpool fans. They will be invited to enjoy the city. We have set up systems of vigilance and security to avoid any kind of problem, but there’s no idea of confining them to specific areas.
“It is true there will be over 1,000 officers deployed, but I would point out that’s because we’ve never really dealt with such a big match, such a large crowd and so many visiting fans coming from abroad. It could’ve been Liverpool, Real Madrid or Bayern Munich and we still would’ve called on these numbers, regardless of the unfortunate incident in Liverpool.
“There are almost 63,000 people in the stadium with almost 5,000 visiting fans who will probably start arriving from May 1. Let us also not forget that the number of police on the streets would’ve been this high even without the bitterness between the sets of fans, because we also have to ensure security amid a terror threat.
“When you have this number of people coming in to the city centre, we obviously bring out extra officers to ensure safety, but it’s nothing exceptional in this case.”
It is very likely that a ban on the sale of alcohol will be imposed on the city centre from at least one or even two days before the game.
The fan zone for Liverpool is set to be in Villa Borghese, where buses will take supporters to the Stadio Olimpico.
There is another very big problem for the city of Rome, as May 1 is a bank holiday and as always there will be a huge free concert in Piazza San Giovanni.