The Guardian:
‘Internazionale face the possibility of being thrown out of European competition next season when Uefa's control and disciplinary body meets to discuss how to react to the crowd trouble at Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final in Rome.
‘"Endless shame" was the headline in yesterday's Gazzetta dello Sport in response to the abandonment of Inter's game against Milan, and shame was undoubtedly the most frequently used word in the Italian media yesterday.
‘Though football hooliganism has been suppressed in many parts of Europe, Italy remains an exception. After a recent series of incidents the interior minister Giuseppe Pisanu claimed he was prepared to close stadiums to stop the trend.
‘"Violence has many faces," he said in a letter published by Corriere della Sera. "There are the fans who have transformed the old spirit of local pride into violence and others who try to influence the decisions of their club. There are those who are politicised - on Sunday Lazio fans displayed swastikas and fascist banners in their home end - and those who target police and carabinieri."
‘Yesterday Pisanu met the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who confirmed that his government was ready to take drastic measures against an increasing wave of violence in Italian football.
‘One measure already decided upon by Italy's football federation as a result of the events at San Siro is to modify its match regulations, starting with this weekend's games. An FIGC statement read: "A referee should not start or should suspend a game as soon as dangerous objects or fireworks are thrown on to the pitch. In these cases the home side will be considered as responsible and the visitors will be automatically awarded a 3-0 win."’
The Independent also has a feature on the trouble in Italy:
‘To a non-Italian speaker the interrogatory manner of the questioning, and grave tones of the replies, suggested Roberto Mancini, the coach of Internazionale, was being grilled over the shameful behaviour of his team's supporters. Given that the Champions' League quarter-final against Milan had just been abandoned after Inter fans threw flares on to the pitch, one striking the Milan goalkeeper Dida, what else could have been under debate?
‘Incredibly, it was the delayed arrival from the bench of the Nigerian striker Obafemi Martins which was exercising the Italian press corps. Mancini had refused to comment on the fans and the media simply moved on.
‘This was one of several incidents at the San Siro on Tuesday night which highlighted the continuing failure of Italians to comprehend the seriousness of the hooliganism that has infected their football. The flares rained down on the pitch because Inter had had a goal controversially disallowed, and when Dida was hit there were cheers, not a shocked silence. In the expensive seats the abandonment was widely greeted with a shrug of disappointment rather than a sense of shame. The police felt they had done a reasonable job.
‘Despite years of crowd violence, culminating at the weekend with outbreaks at five matches that left 85 policemen injured, too many people in Italian football delude themselves that everything is fine. As with the English game before Heysel 20 years ago, the feeling seems to be that as long as teams are successful on the pitch - as Milan are - what is the problem?
‘In many respects watching matches in Italy is, for a Premiership regular, like stepping back two decades. Stadiums, even the ones refurbished or constructed for the 1990 World Cup, are outdated with few facilities and backless seats simply fixed on to terracing. Fans are caged with netting blocking off the pitch (the missiles on Tuesday came from the upper, unfenced tier). Policing tends to be aggressively reactive rather than pro-active and based on intelligence. It is often simply absent. On Tuesday fans were able to throw missiles with apparent impunity, just as Lazio's waved swastikas unhindered.’