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Dutch firm offers to restore Rome after riot

A Dutch restoration company has offered to help Rome with repairs after fans of Feyenoord football club wrecked havoc in the capital last week.

Dutch firm offers to restore Rome after riot
Feyenoord fans are escorted by anti-riot policemen to board buses to Rome's Olympic Stadium. Photo: Filippo Monteforte/AFP

Koninklijke Woudenberg offered its services for free in a letter to the Italian embassy in The Hague on Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the company told The Local.

"We were really shocked by what happened," she added.

"And so decided on Tuesday that we would make this gesture. We thought the best way to go about it would be through the embassy."

In scenes that embarrassed the Netherlands, the drunken Feyenoord supporters trashed much of Rome’s prime tourist spots, including Campo de’ Fiori and Piazza di Spagna, before they were pushed back by riot police.

The clashes took place last Thursday ahead of a Europa League match against AS Roma at the Olympic Stadium.

In the process, they also damaged one of the city’s most treasured fountains, the Fontana della Barcaccia, at the foot of the Spanish Steps, and which had only recently been unveiled after lengthy restoration work.

The overall cost of the damage to the city has been estimated at €3 million.

Koninklijke Woudenberg is yet to receive a response to the gesture from Rome’s authorities.

"If they accept then of course we would collaborate with local companies," the spokeswoman added.

"We have a long experience of restoration work on all kinds of projects."

Earlier this week we reported about Elisabeth Jane Bertrand, a Dutch woman living in Tuscany who set up an online crowdfunding page, called Scusa Rome (Sorry Rome), to raise money for the repairs.

As of Wednesday morning, the gofundme page had raised €10,332.

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RACISM

VIDEO: Spain’s La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

Spain's La Liga on Monday said it was reviewing a video of a child making racist insults towards Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior during the 2-2 draw with Valencia at the weekend.

VIDEO: Spain's La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

“We’re in the process of studying and analysing the facts from a legal standpoint to see what we can and should do,” La Liga sources said.

In a video published by a journalist for ESPN Brasil, and picked up by Spanish media, a boy sitting in a woman’s lap can be heard calling Vinicius a “monkey”.

The Brazilian scored twice for Madrid as his team recovered from two goals down at Mestalla on Saturday.

Vinicius raised his fist in a “Black Power” salute after the first of his two goals at a ground where he was racially abused last season. Valencia subsequently banned three people from the stadium for life.

The 23-year-old has become a symbol of the fight against discrimination in Spanish football after suffering racist abuse on many occasions, and he was jeered repeatedly by home supporters on Saturday.

Jude Bellingham was sent off after the final whistle against Valencia for protesting after the referee blew the final whistle right before the England midfielder headed home what he thought was the winning goal.

READ ALSO: Football star Vinicius highlights racist behaviour from Spanish fans

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