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Italy: Strict soccer security
05/02/2007 22:08 - (SA)
Rome - 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.
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.
Sports minister Giovanna Melandri also said soccer clubs must cut ties to fan clubs, adding that 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.
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