Italy vows to push through tough stadium security rules

ROME, Feb 6 (Reuters) Italy's government vowed today to push ahead with tough new security measures including closed-door matches for all stadiums which do not reach safety standards.

The measures were announced on Monday after all play was suspended following the death of policeman Filippo Raciti during rioting at a Serie A derby in Sicily between Catania and Palermo on Friday.

''We have a duty to resist the pressures that will come from the world of football. Because human life and the right to public safety are worth much more than economic interests,'' Interior Minister Giuliano Amato told parliament.

Yesterday, Antonio Matarrese, who represents the financial interests of teams as head of the league, drew criticism for saying ''the show must go on'' and that matches should resume.

Some politicians and soccer officials called for Matarrese to resign, including Infrastructure Minister Antonio Di Pietro, who also said the football season should be halted altogether.

''A few days' suspension are not enough to take far-reaching decisions,'' Di Pietro said. ''Citizens would rightly feel duped.'' Sports commentators however said the new rules, which now need to be approved by a special cabinet meeting on Wednesday, paved the way for play to resume this weekend.

''WE'RE ON!'' ''There was a duty to stop last Sunday as a sign of mourning, but it would be practically impossible to hold up everything indefinitely,'' said Corriere dello Sport on the front page under the banner headline ''We're on!'' The head of Italy's football federation has said he will take a decision on whether to lift the suspension by Thursday.

La Gazzetta dello Sport called the measures ''a cocktail of hope'', but emphasised the need to implement regulations ''which even in the recent past have slipped by the wayside.'' The measures included a beefing-up of the existing system of stadium bans for those found guilty of violence, and a ban on the block sale of tickets to away fans.

If play does resume this weekend, it was not clear exactly how many stadiums would be open to the public.

In Serie A, only Rome's Olympic Stadium, Palermo's Barbera Stadium, the Artemio Franchi Stadium in Siena and Turin's Olympic Stadium currently meet regulations introduced in 2005.

The rest needed varying degrees of work to bring them up to scratch.

Several famous venues, including Milan's San Siro -- home to AC Milan and Inter Milan -- and Florence's Stadio Franchi need emergency work to avoid playing behind closed doors.

In lower divisions the situation is even less promising.

Only two clubs in the second-division Serie B play in stadiums that meet regulations, and Napoli's San Paolo stadium is one of the venues furthest away from meeting the new guidelines.

''Many stadiums not only don't come close to the norms set out by my predecessor ... but it seems clear that many clubs purposefully try to avoid the regulations,'' said Amato.

The problem of violence in Italian stadiums is by no means limited to the top divisions. Six days before Raciti died, an official was beaten to death while trying to stop a fight at an amateur league match in the southern town of Luzzi.

Reuters PM RS1722