Italian football suspended following violence in Sicily (1)

Italy's international and domestic football Championships have been suspended indefinitely after the death of a police officer during serious trouble at the Serie A Sicilian derby between Catania and Palermo on Friday night.

The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) held an emergency meeting, and extraordinary commissioner Luca Pancalli then announced an immediate suspension of all football in Italy. "I have demanded a stop to all activity of football in Italy," Pancalli said in a statement. "Enough is enough. I cannot find the words to describe a 38-year-old man who lost his life in such a way. This is not sport."

Speaking at a hastily-arranged press conference in Rome, Pancalli said the suspension would remain in place indefinitely. "The football tournaments will remain suspended until we solve the violence in our football," he said. "It's unacceptable that such incidents happen in a country like Italy."

"All the football authorities I spoke to immediately agreed that we had to stop everything. Words aren’t enough any more. Right now I am astonished by what has happened and this is completely unacceptable," Pancalli added.

The derby between the two Southern rivals, eventually won 2-1 by Palermo, had been interrupted after 57 minutes due to crowd trouble when smoke floated on to the pitch. Tear gas, used by police to break up the fighting outside the Stadio Angelo Massimino, drifted onto the field.

The two teams left the pitch for the dressing rooms, with the game suspended for nearly 30 minutes. While play resumed and the final whistle sanctioned Palermo's victory, the problems intensified outside the stadium.

The Palermo fans and the entire squad were kept inside the stadium for several hours after the final whistle, as Catania supporters continued to clash with the police. According to reports, 38-year old officer Filippo Raciti was killed when his car was struck by a small home-made bomb. He was taken to hospital but died from his injuries.

Around a hundred people were treated for injuries, while dozens with lesser injuries were taken to local hospitals. Another police officer is also believed to be in a critical condition.

The Catania prosecutor's office has announced a full investigation into the incident.

The dynamics of the incidents are not clear, but it seems as if visiting Palermo supporters arrived in the second half because their bus was lost on the way to Catania.

The FIGC quickly declared that all the weekend's matches were suspended, then clarified that the suspension was "indefinite". Gigi Riva, coach for Italy's national team, said the suspension also applied to the national team. The World Champions were scheduled to play an international friendly match with Romania in Siena on Wednesday.

The under-21's game against Belgium in Chieti on Tuesday has also been cancelled.

The President of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI), Gianni Petrucci, backed the FIGC's decision to suspend all football activity, and Prime Minister Romano Prodi issued a statement condemning the violence. "After the serious incidents that occurred in Catania, my first thought is for the people that have been affected and for their families," he said. "I feel a duty to say that we need a strong and clear signal to avoid the degeneration of this sport which we are seeing more dramatically and more often."

Catania director Pietro Lo Monaco broke the news of the policeman’s death inside the stadium and was visibly shaken as he announced he would leave football. "I've heard that a policeman has died," he said. "To speak of football right now seems useless. For me this is the end. I will leave the football world. I don't recognise myself in this world anymore. I have loved football intensely but after this right now it seems absurd."

Palermo coach Francesco Guidolin added, "I am extremely disappointed. Football cannot last for much longer like this."

The game had already been given an early evening slot on Friday because of fears over public safety. It was set to be played on Sunday, but Catania’s police commissioner Michele Capomacchia asked for it to be moved because the game clashed with the city’s celebration of patron saint Sant’Agata.

The festival usually sees over 100,000 people gather in the streets and the derby is considered a high-risk event by police. The city’s mayor had also highlighted that it would have been inconceivable to host both events on the same day.

This tragic incident comes just a week after Ermanno Licursi, director of Calabrian amateur side Sanmartinese, was killed in a fight with opposition players after the final whistle of a Serie D game against Cancellese. It emerged he had been kicked in the head and died from a brain haemorrhage.

In the aftermath of that incident, Pancalli said the FIGC would crack down on violence at football matches in Italy. "We are on high alert. To defend referees and the image of football, I am ready to take drastic measures," he said in a statement on January 29. "I hope that with the contribution of everyone - officials, coaches and players on the pitch and also the true fans and football-lovers in the stadiums - we can restore a climate of sportsmanship and respect that will avoid a stop to the leagues."

Prior to Friday's 6pm (local time) kick-off, a minute's silence had been held following that death last week.

The lower Leagues were suspended and this latest shameful scenario has pushed the FIGC to take similar action with all football in Italy.

This is not the first time that Catania have been involved in crowd trouble this season. They were handed a two-match ban on their home games, ordered to be played behind closed doors earlier this season, after two incidents of crowd trouble in the space of a week in Sicilian derbies against Palermo (the first meeting) and Messina in September 2006.

The incidents will put a large dent in Italy’s hopes of hosting the 2012 European Championships, where they are short listed along with joint bids from Croatia-Hungary and Poland-Ukraine. When Pancalli was asked about the bid he said, "At this moment I'm not thinking about it, but should we lose our Euro 2012 bid because of this situation, we would deserve to lose it." UEFA will announce the hosts in April.

The last time Serie A ground to a halt over fan violence was on February 5, 1995, when Genoa supporter Vincenzo Spagnolo was stabbed to death ahead of a match against Milan.

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