Manchester United will work with Roma and UEFA in an effort to
avoid a repeat of last season's violent scenes after being drawn
against the Italian side in the group stages of the Champions
League.
United supporters were baton charged by Italian police during a
quarter-final first leg last April that resulted in fines for both
clubs.
A UEFA disciplinary report found United much less at fault and last
night they were promised they would receive better protection for
what will be the final, and therefore potentially decisive, game of
the group in December.
At the same time, however, they were also told they would have to
take responsibility for their behaviour. UEFA's director of
communications, William Gaillard, special adviser to president
Michel Platini, said: "There were some problems in Rome and all
clubs should endeavour to have proper stewarding.
"We will take special care of Manchester United fans because we
know they had trouble. We will tighten security to make sure they
don't get a repeat of the incident. We will be liaising with the
clubs and the local authorities.
"The Italian FA have a new training programme for stewards. It
means we will have well-trained stewards instead of riot
police."
However, the reaction of Roma last night was less encouraging. A
senior club official, Antonio Tempestilli, said: "We will allow
five per cent of our capacity for United fans, which is 3,600,
because that is what UEFA say we must do.
"But we do not believe the issue of the fans and the security in
the stadium is our problem. It is a problem for the police and the
justice department.
"We must make sure that things go off properly this time. After the
bad experiences in both Rome and Manchester and you must remember
that what happened in Manchester was wrong we have to do
that.
"We are sure the Justice Minister and the police department will
act strongly to avoid a repeat of last time. What happened was a
shame for football.
"But I hope the same sort of measures will be used in Manchester
too. We must not forget that Roma fans were attacked there."