Graham Kelly, the English FA's chief executive, yesterday defended the FA over accusations of a `whitewash' following the publication of its report into violence at the Italy v England World Cup qualifier. The FA said they had been struck by the uniformity of the "vivid and often painful" eye-witness accounts of 1,500 fans who attended the game.

Some of the tales told by supporters were:

Italian police attempted to stagger the arrival of English fans at the match by making coaches take detours of up to 50 miles. But then supporters arrived to find huge queues had built up and pressure growing on entrances.

Large numbers of people were able to get into the ground without tickets, while others were told to sit in the wrong seats. There were no stewards.

At security cordons, many England fans had watches, mobile phones and coins confiscated - and never returned - as they watched Italians carry bottles through.

Many women were searched by male officers and some fans were told to remove their shoes.

Segregation in the ground had broken down because tickets in the Italian end had been sold in England, mainly through corporate hospitality. In this area, fans said their treatment was "demeaning and barbaric".

As queues built up to get into the stands, with police having opened only one entrance, officers baton-charged fans, hitting even those with their hands in the air, breaking a plaster cast on one man's arm and confiscating cameras.

One fan had his jaw broken by four Italian fans as police watched, while another said he was whipped with his own belt.

Inside the ground, Italian fans unfurled provocative flags with messages such as "Free Ulster", and began throwing plastic seats and bottles at the English supporters. The Italian police stood and watched, fans said.

When some English fans began to throw missiles back, the police charged away supporters, "indiscriminately beating anyone who was in the way". Some fans confronted the police.

One England fan was hit as he was being carried away injured on a stretcher, while a 14-year-old boy was also struck.

Fans told of one officer waving a baton and shouting "English pigs", another playing with a flickknife. Some officers were said to have spat at men, women and children as they left and have called them "scum".