The Hindu : Sport / Football : Policeman killed, Italian matches suspended

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Sunday, Feb 04, 2007
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Policeman killed, Italian matches suspended

PALERMO: The Italian soccer federation (FIGC) has indefinitely suspended the country's international and domestic football after a policeman was killed during clashes at a derby game between Sicilian clubs Catania and Palermo on Friday.

Italy had been scheduled to welcome Romania for a friendly on Wednesday.

A 38-year-old police officer died shortly after a rioter tossed an explosive into his car, outside the Serie A match in Catania, police said.

The death was the second in little over a week connected to an Italian sfootball game.

About 100 people were wounded, between officers and fans, in clashes led by hooded rioters who hurled fireworks and lashed out at police with metal bars. Police said they arrested nine people and had detained 23 others.

"We must send a clear message that we must stop the kind of degeneration of sport that unfortunately happens so often," Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi said in a statement.

Earlier this week, the FIGC's extraordinary commissioner, Luca Pancalli, had threatened to halt the country's championships after violence last weekend also left one man dead. — Agencies

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