The Roma president, Jim Pallotta, has launched a furious attack on a section of the club’s fans, warning that a violent minority of “fucking morons” are destroying the club’s reputation and hurting Italian football more widely.

In an expletive-laden interview on Roma’s website, the US investor who took control of the club in 2011 criticised those supporters who cause unrest at and around matches and labelled Tuesday’s alleged assault of the Liverpool fan Sean Cox, which left the 53-year-old in a critical condition, the “most disgusting stupidity”.

Two Roma fans have been charged for their part in the incident but there are concerns that worse could follow next week when 5,000 Liverpool supporters head to the Italian capital for the second leg of their Champions League semi-final, which they lead 5-2. Liverpool have held meetings with Roma, Uefa and Italian police in an attempt to ensure fans’ safety.

Pallotta said: “These games are great – but they’re not life and death. What’s going on right now with Sean Cox in Liverpool, that’s life and death. I don’t really give a shit about the score of the game. We have a long history at Roma and what’s going on now is a few stupid people destroying our history and attacking our legacy, and I’m tired of it.

“It’s not just an issue for Roma. It’s an issue for Italy and it’s an issue for the authorities and it’s an issue for all of us to band together and to finally wake up so that we don’t have a reputation that’s not deserved. Our fans are the best fans in the world. It’s just a couple of fucking morons that take the rest of us down.”

Pallotta, who praised the majority of fans, said it was “time now for things to change in Italy and in Rome. This is happening too much.”