EUROSCENE/Paddy Agnew: Two minutes into the second half of last Sunday night's Rome derby between AS Roma and Lazio, a couple of smoke flares were lobbed onto the pitch.

Within seconds, much of the Olimpico pitch was shrouded in heavy smoke, making it impossible for play to carry on.

Such occurrences are normally nothing unusual. On countless occasions, referees in Italy have delayed the start of the second half to allow the smoke from flares to clear. This time, however, it was different. For whatever reason (and that remains to be clarified), elements among the Roma and Lazio fans had decided they wanted the match abandoned.

The fans claimed they had been outraged by the death of a child, a Roma fan, allegedly run over by a police vehicle during minor skirmishes between the police and fans prior to the game.

In fact, no such death had taken place. Yet, the rumour of the child's death apparently caught on like wildfire. Not even seven separate denials over the public-address system could convince the sceptical fans.

On the contrary, the fan leaders took matters firmly into their own hands, a small delegation of them gaining access to the pitch in order to "talk" to Roma captain Francesco Totti. In a surreal scene of banana-republic proportions, it was "explained" to Totti et al that if the match continued the fans would invade the pitch, thus forcing the game to be abandoned in any case.

TV viewers all round the world then witnessed something that may well be without precedent. Having spoken with the Roma fan leaders at the Curva Sud, Totti returned to the middle of the pitch, where he was seen and heard to say, amongst other things, "if we play now, they'll kill us."

In short, faced with the threat of a pitch invasion from the Roma fans (who by now even had the support of their Lazio counterparts, notwithstanding a normally robust, mutual loathing), Totti consulted with referee Roberto Rosetti, team mates and opponents, urging the game be postponed.

At this point, referee Rosetti was in the hot spot. On the one hand, a majority of the players and staff from both clubs were unwilling to play on; on the other hand, the Prefetto di Roma (senior police officer), Achille Serra, was adamant that, in the interests of public order, the game be resumed.

In the end, after consulting via mobile phone with Football League President Adriano Galliani, referee Rosetti decided to pull the plug, abandoning the match. Fan power had won out.

Fan violence, too, then had its moment as elements in both Roma and Lazio camps made common cause in a series of running battles with riot police outside the ground. By the end of the night, 60 police and 15 fans had been injured, whilst 36 fans had been either arrested or summonsed.

As we write, a judicial investigation is under way into the mysterious events of the Olimpico. For the time being, the questions are plenty, the answers few.

For a start, was the protest spontaneous or pre-planned? What do we make of the "strange movements" among the fans, noted by the Prefect's men during half-time? How come eternal enemies such as the Lazio and Roma fans agreed within seconds to wrap up their banners and demand the game be stopped? How come several fan leaders were adamant in their claims that a child had been killed, even in the face of repeated denials from the police authorities? Were they telling a deliberate lie or were they genuinely mistaken? Remember, in the past, certain minority elements amongst the Roma fans have been capable of threatening to travel to Roma away matches in Europe and cause problems unless guaranteed free match tickets and travel concessions by the club.

One thing is certain after Sunday night's sorry events: Italian football's global image was yet again badly tarnished. Furthermore, the events will not have helped either of the two clubs in question, since both are engaged in a desperate search for new owners who can pull them back from the brink of financial collapse. Having watched Sunday night's shenanigans, prospective owners might easily have been terminally discouraged.

The final word must lie with the Rome Prefect, Serra, who made no secret of his anger at the decision to abandon the game, saying yesterday: "What is certain is that the suspension of this game could prove to be a very serious precedent."

The Prefect did not spell it out but his meaning was clear: fan blackmail had won out.

aleagnew@tin.it