CONI to meet over Italian crisis

Italian football could resume within two weeks, but no decision will be made until the government has been consulted, Italian…

Italian football could resume within two weeks, but no decision will be made until the government has been consulted, Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) president Gianni Petrucci has suggested.

CONI will meet later today to discuss the crisis in Italian football following the death of a police officer at the Sicilian derby on Friday night after rioting between rival supporters.

Following that incident, the Italian football federation (FIGC) announced an immediate and indefinite suspension of all football in the country, saying "drastic measures" were required to end the culture of violence.

"We will have to discuss our ideas with the government and with (Italy's minister of sport) Giovanna Melandri tomorrow," Petrucci said.

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"We're trying to find measures to restart football but we do not know when. It could be in a couple of weeks but we will have to consult with the government."

Yesterday, Petrucci suggested league games will resume in empty stadiums.

"It could be that the games are played behind closed doors," he said. "I don't know what measures the football world will have to take."

As well as preparing for tomorrow's meeting, CONI, the highest body in Italian sport, will also use the meeting to set up a fund for the family of the officer who was killed.

Filippo Raciti (38) was married with two children.

"Today's meeting will discuss, among other things, a grant for the children of the police officer," Petrucci said.