Violence strikes two WC qualifiers

 (AP) -- English and Italian fans hurled coins, bottles and even seats at each other during a World Cup qualifier over the weekend in which England advanced to next summer's soccer showcase.
 Who's to blame is a matter of dispute. Rome's police chief blames drunken and rowdy English fans; English authorities and fans returnng home blame the police.
 British Prime Minister Tony Blair in part blamed Italian authorities for failing to keep rival English and Italian fans apart.
 In an article in Monday's issue of the London tabloid The Sun, early copies of which were available Sunday night, Blair wrote: "I will never excuse violence by England fans but there was a breakdown which meant rival fans mixed where they should have been kept apart. The Italians, like us, will want to learn the lessons."
 Blair added: "Nobody can fault the efforts of the British government, the British police, the Football Association and the organizers of official travel groups in trying to ensure the match was trouble-free."
 In any event, millions of television viewers tuning in for the ballyhooed game between Italy and England in Rome on Saturday saw riot police belting the English fans with batons.
 Police headquarters in Rome reported Sunday that 69 people were injured at the game, which ended 0-0. That included 33 English -- one hospitalized with a stab wound to the abdomen -- and 19 police officers.
 The British Embassy in Rome said 23 Britons had been arrested and would appear in court starting Monday.
 The soccer violence was not limited to Olympic Stadium. In Ljubljana, Slovenia, two police officers were left with concussions in battles with Croat fans on Saturday night.
 Stadium seats were uprooted and flares thrown as police waded into the crowd swinging batons. As many as 1,000 fans from Croatia traveled to Slovenia's capital for the game, which the Croats won 3-1. Nineteen Croat fans were arrested.
 In Rome, the 7,000 fans who had obtained tickets through the English Football Association's official membership were not involved in the trouble. But those who had arrived in Italy ticketless and bought tickets originally intended for Italians were grouped close to rival fans.
 Rome Police Chief Rino Monaco attributed the incidents to "repeated attempts of (English) hooligans, all under the influence of alcohol, to push toward the south section and past their cordons of the security forces."
 Football Association chief executive Graham Kelly said the Italian authorities apparently had sold tickets to English spectators on Saturday, making a shambles of the English ticketing arrangements.
 "We are responsible for the tickets to the England fans but the way the Italians handled it made it impossible for us to fulfill our responsibilities," Kelly said.
 David Mellor, head of a new soccer task force set up by Britain's Labor government, told BBC: "That was not the behavior of a civilized police force. ... The Italians should be ashamed of themselves for the manner in which they reacted."
 Fans who returned to England said Italians in the crowd of 81,000 began pelting the English with objects.
 "The Italian fans were absolute animals and were throwing things all the time, while the police just stood there and watched them," said Daniel Stillwell, 18.