28 AUGUST 1999, Page 26

Basta a basta

From Signor Carlo Ungaro Sir: In his article 'Foul!' (14 August) Michael Henderson has elegantly, elo- quently and succinctly expressed the thoughts of a great many people on foot- ball, perhaps once a sport, but now some- thing between a circus performance and a spectacle of gladiatorial combat.

I have, however, one suggestion: the arti- cle could be re-read substituting 'British' and 'Britain' with 'European' and 'Europe': the situation is no better, perhaps even worse, in Italy and in most other European countries where we are subject to a contin- uous bombardment of unwanted informa- tion on the game and its performers.

Carlo Ungaro

Sacrofano, Rome, Italy