Italian authorities on Monday unveiled a package of measures against soccer hooliganism following Friday's death of 38-year-old police officer Filippo Raciti in Catania.
The measures are expected to be approved at an extraordinary cabinet meeting Wednesday, in time to get Serie A started again next Sunday.
The quick re-start to the championship will please clubs and TV stations worried about the financial impact of the indefinite stadium closure announced at the weekend.
"We have enough time, technically, to resume play on Sunday," said Soccer Federation special commissioner Luca Pancalli.
Matches will be played in empty stadiums until security standards are met, Interior Minister Antonio Amato.
"I know it may appear unacceptable to think of soccer without crowds but I think it far less acceptable that someone should die for (soccer)," said Amato, who agreed the crackdown at an emergency meeting with Pancalli, Sports Minister Giovanna Melandri and Italian Olympic Committee President (CONI) Gianni Petrucci.
The clampdown will rigidly enforce wide-ranging reforms launched in 2003 by then Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu but never fully applied.
Less than half Serie A grounds comply with the Pisanu stipulations, which are largely based on England's successful fight against hooliganism in the 1980s.
New measures include a ban on indiscriminate sales of tickets to travelling fans, setting up a special corps of stewards, and getting known hooligans to perform public services or even swill out stadium toilets while they are serving match-day bans.
Troublemakers will be banned from entering grounds even if there is no firm grounds for suspecting they are about to commit offences, Amato said.
This measure will be extended for the first time to minors.
The new package will also enforce a ban on relations between clubs and groups of hard-core fans.
"We have to say no to the mindless and criminal law of thuggery," Amato said. CABINET TO GREENLIGHT MEASURES WEDNESDAY.
On Wednesday the cabinet is expected to greenlight the revamped Pisanu package, which increased the use of video surveillance inside grounds and introduced numbered tickets with the buyers' name on to make it easier to detect hooligans.
It also stipulated a series of modifications to the stadiums to make them more secure and easier to police.
It is now obligatory, for example, for stadiums to have turnstiles in order to prevent known hooligans and fans without tickets from sneaking in.
The Pisanu measure also increased stadium bans and raised jail sentences for hooliganism to a maximum of four and a half years.
The decree also bolstered the role of club stewards to encourage Italian fans to police themselves more.
Offences against them were put on a par with those against the police.
CONI will now provide the funds to set up a corps of stewards to take over many policing duties, Petrucci said.
The 2005 rules allowed arrests up to 36 hours after an offence. This will now be extended to 48 hours.
