United and Roma to escape UEFA probe

12 April 2012

UEFA are unlikely to investigate the ugly scenes that marred the build-up to Tuesday night's Champions League quarter-final second leg at Old Trafford.

For the second week in a row, there was violence outside the host venue for Manchester United's tie with Roma, and 18 arrests were made by Greater Manchester Police.

UEFA launched an inquiry into the trouble that flared up inside Rome's Olympic Stadium last Wednesday but spokesman William Gaillard indicated a probe into Tuesday night's incidents was unlikely, saying: "We will deal with the Rome matter but this one, I would be surprised if it ever got to us, especially because outside the stadium it really falls outside of our jurisdiction."

He added: "People will be dealt with by the force of the law and that's the way it should be."

Around 3,800 Roma fans flew to Manchester for Tuesday night's game. Fighting broke out just outside the ground two hours before kick-off on Sir Matt Busby Way. Police moved in quickly to try to break up the trouble and calm the situation.

Despite their efforts, the tension between the fans appeared to grow, with Roma fans hurling a firework into a crowd of United supporters. One eyewitness said there was a stand-off between hundreds of United and Roma supporters, with glass and plastic bottles being thrown.

Gaillard was at Old Trafford and witnessed some of the pre-match problems.

"Before the game, there were just a few scuffles, a normal situation from what I saw," he said.

United now face a semi-final against either AC Milan or Bayern Munich, and thousands of United supporters are expected to travel to the away leg.

Gaillard is confident the ties will pass off trouble-free, saying: "There have been a lot of British teams in the last few years that have travelled to either Milan or Munich. We've had remarkably little trouble with Milan fans. We had something like 20,000 Celtic fans travelling to Milan just a couple of months ago with absolutely no trouble."

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