Fans could be barred from Italian soccer stadiums

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Fans could be barred from Italian soccer stadiums

By MARIA SANMINIATELLI, Associated Press Writer

February 5, 2007

ROME (AP) -- Soccer fans won't be allowed into stadiums in Italy unless security measures are met, a decision that comes days after rioting at a game in Sicily in which a police officer was killed.

Interior Minister Giuliano Amato also said Monday that clubs will not be able to sell blocks of tickets to visiting fans, allowing for better control of those entering stadiums. These decisions and others need to be approved at a Cabinet meeting Wednesday, Amato added.

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"I know it is extravagant to think of soccer play without the public," he said. "But I think it is a worse extravagance to have someone die for something like that."

Luca Pancalli, the Italian soccer federation commissioner, said the decision on resuming professional play would be made after the Cabinet meeting. He said that would give the league enough time to schedule games for next weekend.

Games in the country's top league, scheduled for last Saturday and Sunday, were called off because of Friday's riot after Palermo beat host Catania 2-1.

The Italian sports daily Gazzetta dello Sport reported Monday that 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.

Sports minister Giovanna Melandri also said soccer clubs must cut ties to fan clubs and opponents should be regarded as "adversaries, not enemies."

In the Sicilian city of Catania, thousands of mourners flocked to a cathedral for the funeral of the slain police officer. Pope Benedict XVI expressed his "spiritual closeness" to the family of 38-year-old Filippo Raciti.

"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.

Amato has said the violence must stop, or the games will. But officials will also have to consider the economic impact of not allowing a quick return to play.

AC Milan and Juventus are the world's third- and fourth-biggest clubs by revenue, according to accounting firm Deloitte. During the 2004-05 season, along with rival giants Inter Milan and AS Roma, the clubs generated more than $1 billion through game-day receipts, broadcast deals, sponsorships and merchandising.

"This is among Italy's most important industries, and it needs to continue," Antonio Matarrese, the president of the Italian soccer league, said 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." Matarrese later said he had been misunderstood and had not intended to sound as if 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."

Associated Press Writers Ariel David in Rome and Andrew Roberts in Milan contributed to this report.