Cannavaro urges swift action

Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro is glad to be at the Azzurri's training base and away from the violent scenes which have left him "angry and upset" with the state of the national game.

The Italians are at their Coverciano retreat in Florence, where Cannavaro is sure they will not be distracted by the weekend violence in Serie A as they prepare to face Scotland.

The accidental shooting of a Lazio fan by a policeman on Sunday led to disorder in Bergamo and Rome, and there are now calls for sweeping new measures in Italy to combat hooliganism - calls which Cannavaro emphatically supports.

Although their domestic league is facing a fresh crisis, Cannavaro, who plays in Spain for Real Madrid, is adamant the incidents will not be allowed to hinder Italy's preparations for Saturday's crunch Euro 2008 qualifier at Hampden.

"We have faced hard situations before and have been able to overcome them," said the World Cup-winning skipper. "We know the importance of Saturday's game. Once we enter Coverciano, we leave those problems behind."

Italy prevailed at the World Cup despite having a match-fixing scandal hanging over Serie A at the time, the fall-out of which saw several leading players move abroad.

Cannavaro opted to leave Italy, moving to Madrid from Juventus following their demotion to Serie A.

It was a decision he feels has been vindicated by recent events and he is enjoying a different football culture in Spain.

"At Real Madrid, I see so many families and kids turn up for our home games at the stadium and I feel fortunate," he added. "I am lucky to play abroad.

"I feel that we (Italians) continue to give a bad image of our country and our football abroad.

"I will always be proud to be Italian but I feel angry and upset when I watch or hear incidents like the ones experienced at the weekend."

Cannavaro believes "fast action" is required to combat hooliganism in Italy.

He said: "Our football is in the hands of people who are doing violent acts at stadiums, that start fights, that burn buildings, as was the case at the headquarters of CONI (the Italian Olympic Committee in Rome). This is not sport, sport is what we do on the pitch.

"The clubs and the state have to take responsibility in order to resolve this situation. Something has to be done immediately.

"We have to distinguish between fans and hooligans. We have to isolate the violent people. The important thing is that those individuals stay away from the stadiums."

The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) announced today that all league games this weekend would be postponed. Cannavaro believes it is a step in the right direction but not a solution.

"The fact that there will no games on Sunday is a sign and it will make people reflect," he said. "But the problem is that these situations happen very often.

"So what is the solution, not to play anymore?

"It's not possible that in one year there has been a fan and a policeman dead. We players have an important role but in these situations there's nothing we can do."

Italy travel to Scotland knowing they must avoid defeat to keep their hopes of reaching next summer's showpiece in Austria and Switzerland alive.

Roberto Donadoni's men are a point behind the Scots but have a game in hand which comes next Wednesday when they host the Faroe Islands in Modena.