Violence in Florence ends week of shame for Italy

For a country bidding to host Euro 2012 Italy's week of shame, with fan racism followed by crowd violence, has been a PR disaster and a further reminder of the serious problems afflicting the game in the peninsula.

The Italian Cup fourth round, first-leg tie between Fiorentina and Juventus was suspended for over 20 minutes on Thursday after heavy use of tear gas by police left players vomiting and covering their faces with their shirts.

The gas drifted over the pitch after it was used to quell violent clashes between fans and police outside the ground. At least 10 supporters were reported to be injured and three were arrested.

Although the game restarted and fans left the Stadio Franchi afterwards without further incident, the police will be on high alert when the teams meet again in today's Serie A match in Florence.

Italy has passed legislation to get tough with hooligans but the basic inability to segregate rival fans leaves authorities still frustrated in their attempt to keep the peace in stadiums.

"People came here to watch a good game - these things just should not happen," said Fiorentina owner Diego Dalla Valle.

But they do happen in Italy and after last Sunday's scenes where Messina defender Mark Zoro threatened to leave the field after suffering racist abuse from travelling Inter fans, some in the game feel crisis point has been reached.

"We are heading for total breakdown," said Bari president Vincenzo Mataresse.

"Football needs to return to how it once was - entertainment and not war.

"The problem of violence, the other face of racism, needs to be confronted by the League and the Football Federation," added Mataresse.

Today all Serie A matches will kick off five minutes late, on order of the Federation, to allow time for an anti-racist demonstration by players and match officials.

The Zoro incident opened a major discussion about racism in stadiums but, as with violence, a solution will be hard to find given that both problems are linked to hardcore ultra groups.

Inter, whose fans were criticised for continuing their chants against Zoro during Wednesday's Italian Cup tie at Parma, have had experience of both sides of the problem.

The club has just completed a four-match 'closed doors' ban in the Champions League following crowd trouble at last season's quarter-final against city rivals Milan.

UEFA, the organisers of the 2012 European Championships, have already suggested that crowd trouble and the lack of security in stadiums could penalise the country's bid.

The European governing body's chief executive Lars-Christer Olsson last month raised those issues as potential drawbacks to bringing a major tournament to the country.

"Italy lack strategies and ideas (on) how to address the security problem," he said. "Italian clubs are so successful but Italian football is not properly organised.

"We believe there should be more cooperation between clubs, the association and the authorities to implement new legislation on safety in stadia. The security situation in Italy is not satisfactory," he said.

The latest series of incidents have heightened those concerns.