Saving Lazio prevented fan violence, says Berlusconi

Italy Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said the deal to save Lazio from bankruptcy prevented the threat of violence from the Rome club's volatile fans

Italy Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said the deal to save Lazio from bankruptcy prevented the threat of violence from the Rome club's volatile fans.

"Lazio's case is a particular one," Berlusconi, who also owns Serie A club AC Milan, told Italian news agency ANSA.

"We are talking about a team that has a huge number of supporters and there could have been public disorder and grave consequences."

Lazio escaped the threat of collapse after agreeing a deal with the Inland Revenue to pay back around 140 million euros (182 million dollars) in unpaid taxes over a 23-year period.

Lazio have fallen on hard times since they last won the Italian league title in 2000 when current England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson was coach.

The tax debt was built up under former president Sergio Cragnotti, whose canned food company Cirio, the club's former major shareholder, was declared insolvent in November 2002.