Ancelotti fears violence could lead to another Heysel

SOFIA, Nov 16 (Reuters) AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti said the recent wave of fan violence in Italian soccer could lead to another event like the Heysel disaster.

''To be honest, I have a feeling that the horrors of the Heysel disaster could return after all that happened over the weekend in Italy,'' Ancelotti was quoted as saying in Bulgarian weekly newspaper 168 Chasa today.

A policeman shot dead a 26-year-old man during a scuffle between fans of Lazio and Juventus at a motorway service station in Tuscany on Sunday. The incident sparked riots by hundreds of fans who set cars on fire and attacked police barracks.

Thirty-nine people, most of them Italian fans, died after a wall collapsed following a charge by Liverpool supporters before the 1985 European Cup final between the English club and Italy's Juventus at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels.

The tragedy led to English clubs being banned from European competition for five years.

''I've been talking so many times to Gigi Maifredi, who was Juventus coach at that time, and he said that he still can't recover from the horror of Brussels,'' said Ancelotti, who was visiting Bulgaria to receive an honorary award from Plovdiv University.

''Football is just a game and it should never turn into something that is a matter of life and death.'' REUTERS RAR VC2021