"Italy Approves New Soccer Anti-Violence Measures"

In the wake of the Fan-Gary Sheffield incident (listed in the order of blame, from my point of view), I sincerely hope that American sports leagues never have to resort to measures such as these.

The Italian government backed a series of new "zero tolerance" measures Thursday designed to curb fan violence at soccer matches.

Effective immediately, matches will be abandoned if objects are thrown from the stands. The team whose fans threw the objects will be penalized with an automatic 3-0 loss.

The new rules come in the wake of several violent incidents at Italian soccer matches, including fans fighting with police at one match and throwing flares on the field at another (AP, "Italy approves new soccer anti-violence measures," FindLaw, 04/14/05).

Yes, fans is short for fanatics. But this is sports, people. In a world where people are fighting and dying every day, is a little perspective too much to ask?

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