You will remember that a few days ago I published an article from a newsletter I receive from The Times newspaper.  It was about a campaign they had started to seek Uefa to change the venue of this season’s Champions League Final in May, which at the moment is due to be played in the Italian capital Rome.

No one, especially me, was suggesting that Rome is not one of the world’s truly beautiful and great cities, because it is, it’s fantastic.  But there is unfortunately an alarming trend and undercurrent within Rome and it relates to the “ultra” football fans.

There was a reply to The Times earlier this week from the Mayor of Rome himself.  It seems the newspaper’s campaign is reaching the areas it was intended and hoped it would.  As much as the Mayor is intended to defend his wonderful city, and I’d have been a little worried if he hadn’t, I fear his Lordship missed the point.  Part of his argument in defending Rome was that the city stages very successful, very high profile (in Europe) 6 Nations Rugby Union Internationals every year which sees the city invaded by English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh and French rugby supporters.  Yes, he’s absolutely correct and a wonderful time is had by all, but I’m really not sure what his point is.  If the Champions League Final were in fact the Heineken Cup Final (the Rugby Union equivalent) no one would be having this debate.  It would be a complete non starter.

Unfortunately hooliganism, like the stabbing of fans of all nationalities including Italian, that have so blighted Rome, is a social problem, one that relates to society.  Football has, I’m afraid, always seemed to have been the vehicle through which this violence is expressed.  Using rugby as an excuse to hold the biggest game of football outside of the World Cup Final, on the grounds that rugby fans don’t go round stabbing each other, is quite frankly laughable.

Anyway, to get back to the point of this latest article…

Gabriele Marcotti, The Times’ respected European Football Correspondent, has now added his weight to their campaign to have the Champions League final moved from Rome. Read on for his thoughts and an update on its progress - so far 3,759 have apparently asked for the match to be staged elsewhere.  He’s what Gabriele Marcotti, an Italian, had to say…..

I don’t have a problem with The Times’ campaign to move the Champions’ League final from Rome. In fact, I made that very point well before the campaign launched.

My point was this: “In recent years, supporters of Middlesbrough, Genoa, Manchester United, Catania, Liverpool, Atalanta, Inter Milan, Lazio, AC Milan and Reggina have been stabbed when playing Roma - and now Arsenal.

“Some were, no doubt, visiting supporters looking for a fight. Most were not. Either way, these are not isolated incidents. Rome is the capital of my country, I am proud of the city and its people. But I’m ashamed that this goes on and it would have only been right and fair if Uefa made alternative arrangements for the final. Not because - as some idiots have suggested - we risk another Heysel. Thankfully, we don’t. But because it’s a point of principle.

“Until the city can solve this problem on a consistent basis, it should not host the final of football’s biggest club competition.”

That said, let’s try to be fair about this. Saying Roma supporters “stab people” is a bit like suggesting that Chelsea fans stab Tottenham supporters (ten of them stabbed in one afternoon, just two years ago, less than half a mile from Stamford Bridge, though the English media don’t like to talk about it).

Some Roma supporters are thugs who behave like criminals, much like some Man Utd, Liverpool supporters, some Chelsea supporters and some fans of almost every football club, not just in England but all over the world. The vast majority are neither thugs, nor criminals.

Equally, turning this into a Rome v the English issue is just stupid.

Fans of at least seven Italian clubs have been stabbed in Rome at or around Roma games in recent years. It’s certainly not an anti-English thing.

Also, how about leaving Lazio out of this? Yes, there is a rather unsavoury element among some Lazio fans, just as there is among fans of many clubs. But we simply haven’t had the same pattern of stabbings that we’ve seen when Roma were involved.

Individuals who think it’s fun to go around stabbing people and beating them up exist just about anywhere. Many twentysomething and thirtysomething males enjoy confrontation and violence, it’s a (sad) fact of life. The reason we don’t see this kind of thing happening all around Europe is that most cities have a police force and a legal system that are competent and efficient.

I live in central London. However as much I may like to get into a fight in a bar or beat the stuffing out of the driver who speeds down my residential street at twice the legal speed limit, odds are I won’t do it because the likelihood of getting caught is extremely high. And, once I’m caught, the likelihood of getting prosecuted and found guilty is very high. And, once I’m found guilty, the likelihood of losing my livelihood as well as the respect of my friends, neighbours and colleagues is also very high. So I avoid trouble because the punishment acts as a clear deterrent.

Sadly, in Rome, at least when it comes to certain individuals who frequent the Stadio Olimpico, that deterrent doesn’t exist. Blame Italy’s diabolically slow and idiotically complicated legal system.

Blame Rome’s police (though, thankfully, since the departure of Achille Serra, the chief of police from 2003 to 2007, I’m told things are improving). Until they sort this out, they should not be hosting a Champions League final.

Join The Times’ campaign: say no to Rome

Love it or loathe it, the Times Online campaign to have the Champions League final removed from Rome is gathering momentum. And, still, the majority of readers - more than three to one - agree with the view that Uefa’s showpiece occasion should be moved to a safer venue.

The Times has received thousands of emails sharing the concerns, with 3,759 asking for the match to be switched elsewhere and 1,027 telling Uefa to stay put.

Even the high and mighty have been getting agitated, a sign that the campaign has cut to the core of a problem that has been ignored for far too long. “The English are never happy,” William Gaillard, the Uefa spokesman, said. “They criticised the Moscow final, the Istanbul final and now the Rome final. We cannot play them all at Wembley.”  (I’d like to add Athens to that list Mr. Gaillard.  Who quite frankly is the epitomy of Uefa can be so loathed.)

Let’s just say, the English, or any nationality for that matter, are never happy, Mr Gaillard, when they are being beaten up and stabbed.

if you want to have your say. It is not too late for you to let Uefa know what you think so register your opinion here:
http://timesonline.typepad.com/thegame/2009/03/champions-leagu.html

You can also send The Times your comments at rome@timesonline.co.uk and thye we will be forwarded to Michel Platini, the Uefa president.

Get your friends involved too by emailing this article onto them or bookmarking it.

Many thanks
Rik