2007 Catania football violence

On February 2, 2007, football violence occurred between football supporters and the police in Catania, Italy. The clashes occurred during and after the Serie A match between Catania and Palermo football clubs, also known as the Sicilian derby. Police officer Filippo Raciti was killed.

The football match between Catania and Palermo, a derby between two of the three Serie A club that hail from Sicily (the other being Messina), was originally scheduled to be played on February 4 at 3 pm. However, after requests from the Catania management, the Lega Nazionale Professionisti brought the match forward to February 2, with 6 pm as the scheduled kick-off time, in order to avoid clashing with the official St. Agatha celebrations in Catania.

The match started without the Palermo supporters, who arrived in the stadium ten minutes after the beginning of the second half, allegedly because of organizational problems. After the Palermo supporters' entrance, with Palermo leading 1–0 thanks to a controversial goal by Andrea Caracciolo, the throwing of smoke bombs and firecrackers started, forcing the police to reply by throwing tear-gas canisters towards the Ultras (groups of football supporters). As a result, the match referee Stefano Farina decided to suspend the match for over forty minutes, in part because tear gas had drifted into the stadium and was affecting the players. After the end of the match, won 2–1 by Palermo, Catania supporters outside the venue began attacking members of the police force; Raciti died during these incidents, a fatality which was found to be due to severe liver injuries caused by a blunt object, contradicting an initial hypothesis which claimed his death was caused by a homemade explosive device. The local magistrate assured there was no direct responsibility by Palermo supporters in the events.

The Sicilian derby riots came just one week after the death of an amateur football club official named Ermanno Licursi, who was beaten to death during a riot soon after a Terza Categoria league match.

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