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UEFA's police force could be in place next season
FIFA & UEFA - 11 April, 2007
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A cross-border sports police force that will keep order at European football matches starting next season is being developed by UEFA, according to The Daily Telegraph.
UEFA President Michel Platini recently called for organizing an international police force to deal with sports related violence, a topic of discussion at a meeting he had with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.
Last week, European matches involving English clubs Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur were marred by violent clashes between fans and local police in Rome and Seville.
"We are looking to create a type of European sports police, a way of dealing systematically with the problem," an unidentified UEFA senior official told The Daily Telegraph.
"We need cool heads. First of all, we cannot tolerate violence in any form off the pitch, but we also have to understand the mechanics of it," said the UEFA official.
"It is over the travelling fans that there are concerns over safety, because it is easier to cause trouble abroad than in England. But you have to take note of some reports in the Italian press after the incidents in Rome," he said.
"One point is the drinking habits of English fans, which do shock many southern Europeans."
Trouble erupted in the streets and stands during the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final at Rome's Olympic Stadium when Manchester United played against Italian AS Roma, and 18 fans, 14 English and four Italian, were injured.
Baton-wielding Spanish riot police clashed with Tottenham fans the following night during the first leg of the UEFA Cup quarter-final tie at Sevilla's Sanchez Pizjuan stadium.
Both Tottenham and Sevilla expressed shock at the force Spanish police used to remove English fans from an unauthorised area of the stands.
"We have been seriously concerned about the law and order situation around European games for the last six months," the official said.
British newspapers said Tottenham and English Chelsea officials would be discussing the trouble in Seville when the clubs meet in the Premier League at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
Chelsea will be in Spain next week to face Valencia in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final.
UEFA President Michel Platini recently called for organizing an international police force to deal with sports related violence, a topic of discussion at a meeting he had with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.
Last week, European matches involving English clubs Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur were marred by violent clashes between fans and local police in Rome and Seville.
"We are looking to create a type of European sports police, a way of dealing systematically with the problem," an unidentified UEFA senior official told The Daily Telegraph.
"We need cool heads. First of all, we cannot tolerate violence in any form off the pitch, but we also have to understand the mechanics of it," said the UEFA official.
"It is over the travelling fans that there are concerns over safety, because it is easier to cause trouble abroad than in England. But you have to take note of some reports in the Italian press after the incidents in Rome," he said.
"One point is the drinking habits of English fans, which do shock many southern Europeans."
Trouble erupted in the streets and stands during the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final at Rome's Olympic Stadium when Manchester United played against Italian AS Roma, and 18 fans, 14 English and four Italian, were injured.
Baton-wielding Spanish riot police clashed with Tottenham fans the following night during the first leg of the UEFA Cup quarter-final tie at Sevilla's Sanchez Pizjuan stadium.
Both Tottenham and Sevilla expressed shock at the force Spanish police used to remove English fans from an unauthorised area of the stands.
"We have been seriously concerned about the law and order situation around European games for the last six months," the official said.
British newspapers said Tottenham and English Chelsea officials would be discussing the trouble in Seville when the clubs meet in the Premier League at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
Chelsea will be in Spain next week to face Valencia in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final.
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