Italy's soccer industry urged government and sporting
authorities meeting on Monday to lift a ban on soccer matches as
the nation prepared to bury a policeman killed by rioting fans.
A soccer-mad nation which only seven months ago celebrated a
World Cup victory was stunned by the outcome of riots at a derby
between rival Sicilian teams Catania and Palermo on Friday, in
which one man died and more than 70 people were injured.
Ministers and soccer federation officials have vowed to hammer
out emergency measures. Possible steps reportedly being considered
include banning spectators from unsafe stadiums and redirecting a
percentage of TV profits to improve security.
But the industry was worried that officials could decide to
prolong a costly suspension imposed last Friday on a sport that,
beyond being a national obsession, rakes in an estimated six
billion euros ($7.81 billion) a year.
Antonio Matarrese, who represents the financial interests of the
teams as president of the football league, said hooliganism was a
largely a police matter and matches should be resumed.
"We are pained, but the show must go on," he told La Repubblica
newspaper. "Football must never shut down."
Speaking about the death of 38-year-old policeman Filippo
Raciti, Matarrese said: "Deaths in the football system
unfortunately are part of this enormous (hooligan) movement that
the police have not been yet able to control."
Guerrilla war
The prime minister described the riots in the Sicilian city of
Catania as a "guerrilla war". Hooded youths wielding metal poles
and large firecrackers lashed out at police, as streams of fans
fled down city streets to safety.
"It was terrible, terrible, terrible," said Pierluigi Zotta, one
Rome soccer fan who had had time to reflect on the violence after a
weekend without soccer.
"Unfortunately most people on Sunday spend their day watching
football, I didn't know what to do with myself, but after this
terrible thing it was right that football was stopped."
A firecracker which exploded in Raciti's face was initially
considered the cause of death, though a prosecutor said an autopsy
showed it was due to a blow from a blunt object.
Catania readied for a funeral to be led by the archbishop and
attended by Interior Minister Giuliano Amato. Prime Minister Romano
Prodi sent a message to Raciti's widow and two children.
"The sacrifice of your husband and your father, chief inspector
Filippo Raciti, has shocked and moved Italy," Prodi said.
"To die on a day of celebration, during a sporting event that
dozens of criminals transformed into a guerrilla war, is, if
possible, even more absurd."
Raciti was the 13th person to be killed in or around Italy's
soccer stadiums since 1962. The last fatality at a Serie A match
happened in 1995 when a Genoa fan was stabbed to death before a
game against AC Milan.
The Italian Olympic Committee (CONI), at an emergency meeting on
Sunday, urged clubs to break off all relations with violent fans
and said stadiums which fail to adopt tough measures could be
banned from staging games next season.
(China Daily via Agencies February 6, 2007)