Wow, crazy news from Italy this evening – the commisioner of the Italian football federation (FIGC) has suspended all football in the country indefinitely after a policeman was killed during a riot outside the Sicilian derby between Catania and Palermo tonight.
The policeman, named as Filippo Raciti, was 38. According to reports, he was struck in the face by a small explosive while attempting to deal with fighting outside the stadium. He was taken to hospital but died from his injuries.
I have demanded a stop to all activity of football in Italy. Enough is enough. It’s a situation that I cannot speak of. To lose your life at 38 is incredible. This is not a sport.
The football tournaments will remain suspended until we solve the violence in our football. It’s unacceptable that such incidents happen in a country like Italy.
At this moment I’m not thinking about [the bid to host the European Championships in 2012] but should we lose because of this situation, we would deserve to lose it.
Italy vs Romania on Wednesday and the under-21 fixture against Belgium on Tuesday will not go ahead as things stand.
This is just mad… Italians are soccer-crazy and this is a serious blow to the sport.