ITALY:The Italian government has announced a series of tough measures to tighten security at football matches following the death of a policeman during a riot in Sicily on Friday.
After meeting sports authorities, the interior minister, Giuliano Amato, said arrest powers would be extended, Italian stadiums not in line with security norms would be forced to play games behind closed doors, and clubs would be banned from selling blocks of tickets to visiting teams.
Only five top-flight Italian stadiums meet the regulations demanded by 2005 legislation, including the use of cameras and turnstiles. The sports minister, Giovanna Melandri, said clubs would be more closely involved in the running of stadiums, which are mostly owned by local councils.
Italian football clubs will also be forbidden from forming financial relationships with militant supporters' groups.
An announcement on the restart of the Italian football season, which was suspended at the weekend, is likely to follow a meeting of the Italian cabinet later this week, when the new measures are formalised.
"I know it is excessive to have football played without a public, but it is even more excessive that someone should die for football," said Mr Amato.
Mr Amato and Ms Melandri rushed back to the meeting in Rome from Catania yesterday after joining hundreds of mourners at the funeral of police inspector Filippo Raciti.
The president of the football league, Antonio Matarrese, who represents the financial interests of the teams, said hooliganism was largely a police matter and matches should be resumed.
"We are pained, but the show must go on," he told La Repubblica newspaper. "Soccer must never shut down."
Speaking about the death of Mr Raciti, Mr Matarrese said: "Deaths in the soccer system unfortunately are part of this enormous [ hooligan] movement that the police have not been yet able to control."
Yesterday Mr Raciti's coffin, draped in the Italian flag, was driven through the packed streets of Catania to the cathedral, with thousands of onlookers solemnly applauding in a customary sign of respect. His widow, Marisa Grasso, accompanied by her two children, told the congregation she hoped her husband's death might help ring the changes in violence-ridden Italian football.
Pope Benedict, in a message of condolence sent by the Vatican secretary of state, expressed his "firm condemnation for any act of violence that stains the world of soccer".
The prime minister, Romano Prodi, told Mr Raciti's widow and children that his death had "shocked and moved Italy". He said hooligans had transformed a simple game into "a guerrilla war".
Mr Raciti's 15-year-old daughter gave a tearful speech, saying: "I hope your death can transform society." His wife told the mourners that Mr Raciti's last day started like any other.
"We said goodbye just like we always do. 'Ciao, see you later.' I imagined he would come back a bit bruised," she said. "I never imagined he would come back like this."
Rome's main airport suspended all check-ins for a minute of silence. The funeral service, presided over by the city's archbishop, was broadcast live on national television. Mr Raciti was the 13th person to be killed in or around Italy's football stadiums since 1962. - ( Guardian service, Reuters)