Milan - Italy's Ministry of interior has banned offensive banners from football stadiums in its effort to crack down on violence, La Gazzetta dello Sport reported Friday. Fans will have to state content and size of the banner they want to show in order to obtain permission from the police. The new measure will be effective since March 30, when the league resumes after the break for the Euro 2008 qualifier Italy play next week against Scotland.
Most Serie A clubs have posted the new norms on their websites and some are cooperating with the police, who can issue season permits to fan clubs.
Heavily offensive banners have been shown in the past, sometimes with whole racist and political sentences, along with symbols relating to Nazism and fascism. Clubs often received fines for the most offensive banners.
The crackdown on banners is the latest in a series of measures the ministry took after the death of a policeman in clashes outside the Catania stadium on February 2.
A week earlier, the manager of an amateur team was killed in the southern region of Calabria as he tried to pacify an after-game clash.
New rules adopted in the following weeks improved safety in stadiums and included preventive bans from games for violence-prone fans, while clubs were invited to sever their ties with the violent fringes of their fans.
