NYON - UEFA's director of communications William Gaillard has warned that Rome could be stripped of hosting the 2009 Champions League final if there are violent scenes at this week's game between Roma and Manchester United.
The two sides meet on Tuesday in the first leg of their Champions League last-eight tie at the Stadio Olimpico, the venue for next year's final.
The Giallorossi have a chequered reputation in the Champions League, with violence marring last year's encounter at the same stage between Roma and United, when the Italian Carabinieri were accused of employing heavy-handed tactics against United fans in a bid to quell unrest in the stands.
Roma's meeting with Real Madrid in the last round was also hit by pockets of violence outside the stadium, and Gaillard has warned that any repeat on Tuesday would throw the city's hopes of staging the 2009 showpiece into doubt.
"If there are more incidents like those that happened at the Roma-Real Madrid game we will have to reconsider the plan to have the 2009 final in Rome," Gaillard told Italian state TV on Monday.
Gaillard also singled out the riots that followed the killing of Lazio fan Gabriele Sandri by police last November as an incident that highlights the scale of the problem in the Italian capital.
"It's not a problem connected to soccer by itself," he added. "It's a problem that regards the city.
"Many games in Rome are followed by incidents outside the stadium, incidents in the city and attacks on buses and fans knifed. There are groups of criminals, the same ones that attacked police stations after the death of Gabriele Sandri."
