Italy government vows on Monday to stamp down upon football hooliganism including the closure of some football stadiums after 85 police officers were injured in a wave of fan violence across Italy last weekend.

Games in Rome, Palermo, Udine, Cava dei Tirreni and Perugia turned violent, ended up with 17 hooligans arrested and more than 200 booked.

"Another Sunday like this" would lead to the stadiums affected being shut down, Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu said, describing the events as "most barbaric violence".

"This hooligan violence has to be stopped. It's right that fans understand that serious actions will be taken. We can't accept living in a country where taking children to the stadiums can be dangerous," said Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni.

Italy's police union advocated the suspension of games at stadiums with a history of violence, but warned that it would have to be accompanied by moves to fit stadiums with ways of barring access to hooligans via electronic ID cards and other identification systems.

"We have to make sure these criminals are prevented from getting into grounds," it said, singling out Rome's Olympic Stadium as one of the worst trouble spots.

Sports Minister Mario Pescante also said ground closures would not be enough to deal with rising hooliganism.

"Certain fans regard the closure of their ground as a victory, something that makes them feel more important," he argued.

"What we need are quicker and tougher sanctions to cut down the incidents - especially since it is the boys in uniform who are hurt the most in these clashes."

Several soccer club chiefs also echoed their concerns, saying that Pisanu's threat was welcome but not enough.

They pointed to the English success in rooting out hooligans and making soccer games a family event again.

Serie A club Fiorentina said "we have to get politicians, clubs, fans and police around the same table to hammer out a revised set of norms to bring families back."

"We have to take a leaf out of the English book," said third-division club Ternana, whose Umbrian derby against nearby Perugia was dogged by violence before, during and after the match.

The Communist Refoundation party said crackdowns were no use and the "social causes" of hooliganism should be solved by government youth policy.

Pisanu's power to shut grounds was handed to him by emergency legislation more than two years ago, and in the wake of the umpteenth shocking wave of violence in the nation's stadiums that left one fan dead and dozens of police injured.

At that time, in September 2003, Pisanu issued a fresh anti-hooliganism plan, saying he would not shrink from using the ultimate sanction of canceling high-risk games - a threat that has been repeatedly aired but never implemented in the past.

"People's lives are worth more than any soccer championship," Pisanu has repeatedly said.

Source: Xinhua