Dozens of people required treatment for eye and throat irritation, apparently after a person, or a group of people, used pepper spray, and a boy was injured after a fall from a structure he had climbed up to try to see the concert without a ticket.
Alfonsina Russo, the superintendent of the Colosseum archaeological park that is near Circus Maximus, has called for an end to rock concerts at the site, citing the behaviour of the fans at Monday’s show and the volume of the music.
But Rome’s Major Events chief Alessandro Onorato told Russo to butt out on Wednesday, saying she had drummed up a “sterile row”.
“There were 60,000 young people with an average age of 20 at Circus Maximus and zero incidents,” Onorato said.
“Hearing the superintendent say you should only have opera or ballet at Circus Maximums is... well, luckily she does not decide what happens at Circus Maximus.
“One person was injured, but fortunately he is OK.
“It’s a lad who hurt himself not at Circus Maximus, but in the area of the Colosseum archaeological park, where the director is Alfonsina Russo, the same person who caused the row.
“Perhaps if she had controlled her site better, the lad would not have been hurt.”
ANSA
