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Football

22nd May 2018

Liverpool and Roma both charged for crowd trouble

Roma fans attacked 53-year-old Dunboyne man Sean Cox, who remains in critical condition

Jack O'Toole

Liverpool and Roma have both been charged for crowd trouble following crowd disturbances at the Champions League semi-final first leg between both teams at Anfield last month.

UEFA said both clubs have been charged under Article 16 (2) of the governing body’s disciplinary regulations which states that ‘all associations and clubs are liable for the inappropriate behaviour on the part of their supporters’.

Roma fans attacked 53-year-old Dunboyne man Sean Cox, who remains in critical condition, before the match while Liverpool have also been charged over the throwing of objects and setting off of fireworks. The crowd disturbances charge covers no specific incident.

Cox remains in critical condition while two Italian men have been remanded in custody after appearing in court charged in connection with the incident.

Filippo Lombardi (20) and Daniele Sciusco (29) will be detained until a court appearance at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday 24 May.

Earlier this month Detective Inspector Paul Speight, of Merseyside Police, made an appeal to those who may have camera phone footage of the incident to co-operate with police.

“Sean Cox remains in hospital in a critical condition at Walton Neurological Centre. Our thoughts are very much with his family who are going through an extremely tough time, and we want to bring anyone responsible to justice.

“We have studied CCTV footage and have spoken to a number of witnesses, and I want to thank the people who have already come forward for their ongoing support.

“We know there were a number of people filming on camera phones before and after the incident, and we are very keen to hear from them and view the footage as it could prove vital to our investigation of this incident.”

Fighting erupted near The Albert pub shortly before kick-off where it is believed Cox was hit with a belt before falling to the ground at 7.08pm.