Meanwhile, Spurs goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini has said Italy should follow the English way of combating football hooliganism.

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It is fair enough to ban anyone convicted of football hooliganism from travelling overseas at the time of an international match.

ECONOMIST: Hooligans and the law

Football hooliganism, with the exception of the occasional incident, is dying away.

BBC: UK Peace Index highlights rate of fall in violent crime

Other measures that could be ditched include arrangements to speed up sharing suspects' DNA profiles and fingerprints and joint working in specific areas such as terrorism, human trafficking or football hooliganism.

BBC: EU crime optouts 'could damage UK crime fighting'

But it used to be said that the hooliganism that once dogged football in England itself was ineradicable.

ECONOMIST: England��s shame

Only football tickets are off limits, and that was designed to squelch hooliganism by segregating rival supporters, not to promote social justice.

ECONOMIST: Ticket touts are making powerful enemies