Soccer fans won’t be allowed into stadiums in Italy unless security measures are met, the country’s Interior Minister said on Monday.
The decision comes only days after riots broke out during and after a Serie A match in Sicily in which a police officer was killed.
Giuliano Amato also said that clubs will not be able to sell blocks of tickets to visiting fans in order to control who enters the stadium.
These decisions and others still need to be approved at a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Amato said.
”I know it is extravagant to think of soccer play without the public, but I think it is a worse extravagance to have someone die for something like that,” Amato said.
Italian soccer federation commissioner Luca Pancalli said the decision on resuming professional play would be made after the Cabinet meeting. That would still give the league enough time to schedule matches for next weekend, Pancalli said.
The Serie A matches scheduled for last Saturday and Sunday were cancelled because of Friday’s riot after Palermo beat host Catania 2-1.
According to a report published on Monday in Italian sports daily Gazzetta dello Sport, only four stadiums used by clubs in the Serie A satisfy the safety norms — the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, the Stadio Olimpico in Turin, the Artemio Franchi stadium in Siena, and the Renzo Barbera stadium in Palermo.
San Siro, the stadium shared by AC Milan and Inter Milan, does not meet the criteria.
Other measures in the government’s decree to be approved on Wednesday include allowing authorities to keep suspected hooligans away from stadiums even if they haven’t committed a crime, Amato said.
If approved, the decree will take immediate effect but will have to be approved by the Parliament to remain in effect. The government will also present a separate proposal for more long-term changes, Sports Minister Giovanna Melandri said.
These include barring clubs from having economic ties with fan groups and putting the clubs in charge of the stadiums, charging their stewards with guaranteeing security inside and involving them in the ownership of the sports arenas, which so far are owned by local authorities, she said.
Melandri also said the fan mentality must change, and opponents should be ”adversaries, not enemies”.
Earlier, thousands of mourners flocked to a cathedral in the Sicilian city of Catania for the policeman’s funeral.
Pope Benedict XVI expressed his ”spiritual closeness” to the family of 38-year-old Filippo Raciti, who was killed during street clashes at the Catania-Palermo match.
”In reiterating his firm condemnation for any act of violence that stains the world of soccer, the Holy Father urges protagonists to promote respect for legality with greater determination,” the pope said in a telegram of condolences that was read during the funeral.
In a sign of respect, people applauded as Raciti’s coffin, draped in the Italian flag, was carried inside the Duomo Cathedral followed by his youngest son dressed in a police uniform.
”I only hope that your death will push society to make changes,” Raciti’s teenage daughter, Fabiana, said during a tearful speech.
The economic impact of not allowing a quick return to play could be huge.
AC Milan and Juventus are the third and fourth biggest clubs in the world by revenue, according to accounting firm Deloitte. During the 2004/05 season, along with rivals Inter Milan and AS Roma, the clubs generated more than $1-billion through match-day receipts, broadcast deals, sponsorship and merchandising.
”This is among Italy’s most important industries, and it needs to continue,” Antonio Matarrese, the president of the Italian soccer league, was quoted as saying in Monday’s editions of La Repubblica. ”We are saddened, but the show must go on.”
”Unfortunately, deaths … are part of this huge movement, which law enforcement officials still can’t control,” he said.
Matarrese’s comments drew immediate criticism, with the Italian Olympic Committee calling them ”seriously offensive”.
He later said he had been misunderstood and had not intended to sound like he was taking the violence lightly.
”Those that have done wrong must be punished,” AC Milan defender Paolo Maldini said. ”But playing with the doors closed would be the death of soccer.” – Sapa-AP