Brussels, 12/03/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Monday, the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, and the new president of the European football union (UEFA), Michel Platini, confirmed their intention to pool efforts in order to combat all forms of violence in football stadiums. “We can pull together to ensure football remains a positive force”, Barroso told the press, denouncing all “signs of violence, racism and the lack of fair play” that have tainted stadiums over recent months. “We want to fight these scourges that are detrimental to the sport”, stressed Michel Platini, the former “number 10” of the French national team. In his view, the meeting marks the “beginning of collaboration between the European Commission and UEFA” to the benefit of football. Several days earlier, Mr Platini had announced his intention to draft a European football charter and a collective agreement in order to establish dialogue. On 24 March, in Nyon (Switzerland), he will meet with the heads of police of European countries to discuss ways to counter violence in stadiums. In coming weeks, he will also meet the commissioner responsible for justice and home affairs, Franco Frattini. Making an implicit reference to the debate underway on how to deal with football with regard to the European internal market and competition rules, Michel Platini said he was in favour of “conflicts being settled within the football family and not elsewhere”. He announced that, from June on, the UEFA statutes would be revised to federate all football families within one and the same commission. Stressing that there is an economic dimension to the sport, Mr Barroso nonetheless recalled that there is a “specificity in sport that must be safeguarded”. Mr Platini said: “Sport is not just a question of money. Mark my words: football must have a social side, or cease to exist”. The president of Manchester United, Sir Bobby Charlton, was also on the side of Messrs Barroso and Platini to announce the holding, on Tuesday evening on the Old Trafford pitch in Manchester, of a football match between Manchester United and a European Eleven to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the European Union. The European XI, to be trained by the Italian manager, Marcello Lippi, will be made up of many known players such as: Ronaldinho, Steven Gerrard, Juninho, Gianluca Zambrotta, Lilian Thuram, Carles Puyol, Eric Abidal, etc. (bc)