WARSAW Wisla Krakow said on Wednesday it was checking reports that Parma's Dino Baggio was injured by a knife thrown from the crowd during their UEFA Cup game. The Italian version is that Baggio was hit by something on his head, by a sharp object and the Italians claim that it was a flickknife, said Maciej Bobr, spokesman for Wisla Krakow in southern Poland. But no such incident was noted in the official match report, said Bobr. Wisla held fancied Parma to a 1-1 draw in their second round first leg match on Tuesday. Television pictures showed Baggio clutching his head in the 80th minute and being led off the pitch for treatment.

He later rejoined the game but spoke of the incident to Italian journalists accompanying the team. Allegedly he had stitches in his head. If that really took place then this was a deplorable act, which shouldn't have occurred, said Bobr. The club was questioning security guards and players and would review tapes of the game to determine what happened, he said.

The spokesman also questioned the reasons for the Parma complaint. In my opinion the fact that Parma failed to win a game with a central European team required something sensational to divert attention, he said. Polish fans have a reputation for violence, with local games heavily policed and frequently marred by crowd trouble. (Reuter)