Rome Prefect Achille Serra on Friday justified the Italian police's controversial baton charge on Manchester United fans during the midweek Champions League match against AS Roma.
Serra said the police, accused of brutality by the British press, were "defending themselves from attack by a group of drunken English fans".
The prefect showed what he called "chilling" video footage which he claimed demonstrated why the baton charge was necessary.
"The police were surrounded by 300 fans with their backs to the barriers," Serra said.
"Then bottles and seats torn up by the furious, drunk fans were thrown. They certainly could not respond with flowers".
He said Italian stewards were being attacked too.
Furthermore, the English fans would have crossed into the Roma supporters' section and the situation would have become uncontrollable if the police had not intervened, Serra claimed.
He criticized the British press for giving an unbalanced take on the events, showing the injuries the fans sustained without asking why the police had to take action.
The prefect said any officers who went too far would be disciplined, but stressed that "at the moment it does not seem to me that the police acted improperly".
Serra also pointed out that Manchester United fans were involved in crowd trouble at a recent Champions League match in Lens, France and at a Premiership match against Blackburn and that similar incidents took place during English club Tottenham Hotspur's UEFA Cup tie in Seville Thursday.
Giovanni Aliquo', the secretary of the National Police Association (ANFP), said the video footage proved the "incidents were deliberately provoked by drunken hooligans seeking physical contact with rival fans".
Aliquo' added: "If the English fans thought they could come to Italy and do things that are rigorously forbidden in their country, they were truly mistaken".
There were also a number of clashes between Roma and United fans before Wednesday's match. In total 18 people were injured, including one English man who was stabbed in the neck.
The British government has voiced concern over the policing of the match, which Man Utd lost 2-1.
"The scenes seen on TV are extremely concerning," Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker told the BBC in London.
"We need explanations for what happened, and the way the police reacted," Coaker said after Manchester Utd accused Italian police of "indiscriminately" hitting supporters.
Many Italian politicians have reacted with indignation at the British criticism and backed the police.
Much of the media pinned the blame squarely on "drunken English hooligans".
The issue is particularly sensitive because a police officer was killed during rioting at a top-flight football match in Catania in February.
But Northern League senator and former minister Roberto Calderoli called on Serra to eradicate the "bad apples" in the Rome police Friday.
"You cannot deny that the footage shows persistent violence against people who were no longer able to defend themselves or were never able to," Calderoli said.
"Gratuitous violence should be rejected even when it is carried out by the forces of law and order".
Veteran sports writer Candido Cannavo', meanwhile, said the knife attacks on English fans were evidence of the "endemic thuggery that surrounds soccer in Rome".
In an article in La Gazzetta dello Sport, Italy's biggest sports daily, he also pointed out, referring to the pre-match fighting, that "all the knives were on one side".
European soccer's governing body UEFA has opened an inquiry into Wednesday's violence.
Roma risks sanctions if UEFA judges crowd-control measures to have been inadequate, while Manchester United could be penalized if its fans are seen as the cause of the violence.
The Italian Interior Ministry is looking into the matter too and Rome prosecutors are expected to open a probe.
Before the match, Manchester United warned its followers to take precautions because they risked being attacked by hard-core 'ultra' Roma fans.
Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni took the warning as a slur on his city, adding that it might inflame the climate at the game.
