Former Fifa referee Anders
Frisk was disappointed with the actions of the Italian police
towards Manchester United fans during their UEFA Champions League
quarter-final first leg defeat to Roma.
Frisk, who attended the game as a spectator, is no stranger to
incidents at the Stadio Olimpico having refereed matches against
Dynamo Kiev and Galatasaray where trouble flared in the
stands.
"It was a very bad experience for me to be back in the Olympic
Stadium and this time witnessing something that was not good for
the game of football," Frisk told the website.
"I think the approach from the Italian police was (to blame), in my
opinion. My feeling from the beginning was that they were very
close to the United supporters.
"Maybe what started it was something being thrown and I think the
Italian police reacted very, very aggressively towards one or two
incidents and this is what caused everything to flare in my
opinion."
Frisk, who is promoting a soccer website alongside Patrick Vieira
and Rudi Voller, also criticised the security staff at the
stadium.
He continued: "I went as a normal fan and when I went through the
gates I was not searched at all so of course if you don't search
people they will bring in bottles and things to throw at each other
so that was a major mistake."
Frisk was forced to abandon the match between Roma and Dynamo Kiev
in September 2004 after being hit by an object thrown from the
crowd.
However, the Swede does not think Wednesday's referee Herbert
Fandel ever considered calling a halt to the game, which Roma won
2-1.
"I don't think he really had that in his mind," Frisk said. "If I
could read his body language when he was out on the pitch he was
very concentrated on doing a good job.
"I didn't think he had any communications with the representatives
from security about abandoning the match.
"I think it was actually better to continue this match because if
we had stopped this match maybe the conflict would have been even
more extensive."
Meanwhile, Frisk has called for improved communication throughout
the game to avoid future incidents, and believes the lack of
trouble inside English stadiums can be attributed to this.
He added: "It's about how you communicate with people, it's
important for coaches, for players, for referees, for police and
for fans to make the right communications because if you don't then
you will have conflict in the match."
