DEATH OF A FAN: Flowers lining the front of the shop where Gabriele Sandri worked with his father. Sandri's death in an accidental shooting by a policeman triggered large-scale violence across Italy. -- PHOTO: AFP

Calcio, as the game is called in Italy, has been plagued throughout its history by conspiracy theories, scandals, intrigue and hooliganism.

On Sunday, a Lazio fan on a highway north to Milan for the game between Inter and Lazio was accidentally shot by a police officer, inciting a night of violence across the country.

The worst incidents took place in Rome, where hundreds of enraged fans responded to the tragedy by attacking police barracks as well as the headquarters of the Italian Olympic Committee, which is next to the city's soccer stadium, causing nearly US$150,000 (S$217,000) of damage.

About 40 police officers were injured during the clashes, the Italian news agency Ansa reported.

On Monday, the Italian authorities suspended this weekend's games in the second and third divisions.

There were no Serie A matches scheduled as Italy travel to Scotland for their Euro 2008 qualifying match on Saturday.

Italian authorities also moved to ban groups of fans from travelling to out-of-town matches and imposed stricter security measures in stadiums.

Under the measure passed on Monday, supporters will still be able to attend out-of-town matches; they will be prohibited only from travelling to those matches in large groups.

The new security measures would also give local police chiefs the right to suspend a match if matters appear to be getting out of control.

The authorities also ordered clubs to deploy extra match stewards to monitor crowds in stadiums that hold more than 7,500 people. The stewards must be in place by March 1.

The latest turmoil comes on the heels of the best and the worst of Italian soccer.

A bribery scandal resulted in Juventus, the most popular club in the country, being stripped of two Serie A titles (2004-5 and 2005-6) and relegated to Serie B.

It was followed by Italy winning the 2006 World Cup.

But that high was quickly followed by another low: The death of club official Emmanno Licursi, who was attacked by fans while trying to break up a fight at an amateur league match in late January; and the killing of 38-year-old policeman Filippo Raciti by rioting fans, barely a week later.

Raciti's death resulted in all league fixtures being suspended for a week, with security measures being tightened across the country.

In response to the latest round of violence, soccer authorities suspended three Serie A matches on Sunday, as well as one in Serie B.

But, this has angered many fans, who are upset that only three top-flight matches were postponed in response to the killing of a fan by a police officer, while the entire Serie A slate was postponed in response to the killing of a police officer by a fan.

It remains to be seen whether they will be placated by the fact that the police officer who shot Gabriele Sandri, a 26-year-old disc jockey from Rome, was charged with manslaughter on Monday.

The latest violence was labelled 'pure madness' by Italy coach Roberto Donadoni. 'It's one of those moments where you just feel nauseous,' he told Ansa.

But, while Italian soccer is reeling, it has always rebounded from incidents such as 'Black Sunday'.

And this revival and resilience is no better embodied than by Juventus, who are now third in the Serie A after Sunday's 2-2 draw with Parma.

It is a considerable achievement, given that they lost stars such as Fabio Cannavaro, Lilian Thuram and Zlatan Ibrahimovic owing to the relegation, have just regained promotion and have a new coach - Claudio Ranieri.

Said the former Chelsea manager, who has been tasked with restoring the Old Lady to her former glory among football's elite: 'I believe in this project.

'There are new men at the top of Juventus, a new mentality, and we want to build a new Juventus with new players. I love to build a team like this.'

And so the rebuilding begins, for both Juventus and Italian soccer.

NEW YORK TIMES, ASSOCIATED PRESS