Police in Bergamo were working Thursday to track down around 500 Atalanta fans who staged a violent protest against Interior Minister Roberto Maroni over a new supporters’ ID card. The ‘ultra’ hardcore fans set light to five cars and clashed with police outside a meeting in the northern city Wednesday where Maroni was explaining his reasons for introducing the scheme. ”They can forget about going to the stadium for a long time,” Maroni warned the fans involved after the meeting, which Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti and Simplification Minister Roberto Calderoli also attended. Maroni hopes the card, which fans wanting to buy season tickets or travel to their sides’ away games will have to have this season, will help keep out troublemakers and solve Italian football’s enduring problem with hooliganism. But many teams’ ultras are fiercely opposed, arguing it is a restriction on their civil liberties, and they are threatening to boycott matches. ”I express my utmost solidarity with Interior Minister Roberto Maroni, we are supporting the institutions,” Giancarlo Abete, the head of the Italian Soccer Federation, told RAI television on Thursday. ”The people behind violence like this must be kept away from the stadiums. There can be differences of opinion, but the use of violence shows the sort of people we are forced to deal with”. Over half a million supporters’ cards have been requested, although season ticket sales are down by about 20% following the scheme’s introduction. The new Serie A season kicks off this weekend. photo: a protestor against the supporters’ card.