Rios to stand trial for attacking Rome police

Chile's former world number one Marcelo Rios is to stand trial in Italy on charges of resisting arrest and attacking two policemen during a night out in Rome.

Italian police said on Monday, however, that Rios was unlikely to appear in court to answer the charges.

"As soon as the Carabinieri pass details of the case to the Rome state magistrates, they will inform Rios through his defence lawyer," a police spokesman said.

"But that doesn't mean he'll have to come back to Italy and appear in court. He can be represented by his lawyer."

Rios, 25, and four other Chileans, including a coach and an ATP official, were briefly held by police last week after a drunken night out in Rome's historic Trastevere district.

Police said the five men clambered into a taxi even though the driver objected, telling them the cab was only licensed to carry four passengers.

The driver stopped another taxi and two of the passengers switched cars. Rios, his coach and the ATP official remained in the first taxi.

During the trip, the three fooled around and allegedly hit the driver, police said. Rios then attacked two officers who were called to the scene to restore order.

Rios had earlier lost in straight sets to Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero in the second round of the Rome Masters Series tournament, organised by the Association of Tennis Professionals.

The ATP, which runs the men's circuit, said it was launching an inquiry into the incident.

Rios, who became a national hero when he beat Andre Agassi at Key Biscayne in 1998 to become Chile's first world number one, has a reputation as one of the sport's bad boys.

He never appears to enjoy speaking to the media, has been known to refuse to shake hands with opponents after matches and regularly declines to give autographs.

Rios is playing in this week's Hamburg Masters in Germany, winning his first-round match on Monday in straight sets against Spain's Carlos Moya.