Italy: Police warn balcony football spectators

Stadio Matusa, Frosinone's home ground, is surrounded by residential buildings

Police in one Italian town are warning football fans not to cram onto private balconies in an effort to see their newly promoted team in action.

The Frosinone side, based in the town of the same name just south of Rome, are playing in Italy's top division - Serie A - for the first time in their history. But their home ground, Stadio Matusa, doesn't quite live up to their new position, holding only 10,000 spectators. When Serie A veterans Roma came to town for the local derby, many fans were left without a ticket, instead piling onto the balconies and terraces of nearby apartment blocks which enjoy an uninterrupted view of the pitch, La Gazzetta dello Sport reports.

The local police force says that poses a risk to public safety, as overloaded balconies could collapse. In a statement on its website, the force says it intends to warn building administrators not to allow too many people to enter the apartment blocks on match days.

Many Italians commenting on the report praise the police for taking steps to avert a potential disaster. "If you invite your brother to watch that's one thing," writes one person. "But if your brother and seven friends are all on your balcony it's another story, because it could collapse and afterwards everyone would talk about a tragedy that could have been avoided." Others complain that people cannot be told what to do in their own homes. And one person says that balcony spectators can't be avoided unless you "knock down all the tower blocks around the stadiums - simple but impossible to carry out!"

Fans gathered on balconies and terraces around the stadium even when the team was still in Serie B

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