UEFA on Monday said it was confident in the ability of Italian police to handle the Champions League Final at Rome's Stadio Olimpico on May 27.
''I trust in the work of the Italian police force,'' UEFA Vice President Marios Lefkaritis said at a press conference on ticket sales for the final, the first in Rome since Juventus beat Ajax on penalties there in 1996.
Lefkaritis said Italy did not have hooliganism or ground safety problems ''different from (those in) other European countries''.
''I'm convinced Italian police will be able to keep order both on the day of the game and the days leading up to it''.
Security at the Olympic Stadium has improved since 2004 when UEFA punished AS Roma with a stadium ban after Swedish referee Anders Frisk was hit on the head by an object thrown from the crowd.
At the time Rome had a poor disciplinary record and was regarded as being soft on hooligans.
In 2003 a fan intrusion, followed by rioting, halted the Roma-Lazio derby because of a false rumour that a boy had been killed by a police van.
In March 2002 there was a post-match scuffle between Roma players and their Champions League opponents Galatasaray, for which the Roman side was squarely blamed despite their protestations that the Turks started it.
