A POLICEMAN died and Socceroos midfielder Mark Bresciano was treated for the effects of tear gas after fans turned violent during a Serie A match between bitter rivals Palermo and Catania.

Police officers used tear gas to try to quell crowd unrest during the match on Friday night, Italian time.

About 100 people were wounded in clashes led by hooded rioters who hurled fireworks and lashed out at police with makeshift weapons. Police said they had arrested nine people and detained 23 others.

One police officer, Filippo Raciti, 38, was hit in the face by a homemade bomb thrown from the crowd and died in hospital.

Magistrates said they had opened an investigation into the killing.

The Italian football federation responded to the tragedy by cancelling all matches indefinitely and the Government called a crisis meeting for tomorrow to hammer out emergency measures to halt the violence.

Italy had been scheduled to welcome Romania for a friendly match on Wednesday, and Bresciano is due to play for Australia against Denmark in London.

"We must send a clear message that we must stop the kind of degeneration of sport that unfortunately happens so often," Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi said.

It was the second football death in Italy in a week. An official of amateur league club Sammartinese died after being caught up in a fight at the end of a game.

The latest tragedy came two months after a French policeman shot dead a Paris St Germain supporter while reportedly trying to protect a Jewish supporter from a mob of about 100 PSG fans chanting racist insults.

Palermo won the game on Friday 2-1 but the highly charged derby was overshadowed by the violence.

"I have loved football my whole life and I no longer recognise myself in this sport," Catania director Pietro Lo Monaco said.

"With this news, I will leave football. It's not for me any more."

The game had already been brought forward because of fears about public safety, but even an early kick-off did nothing to quell the unrest.

The game was suspended after an hour when the tear gas police used drifted on to the field. Adding to the problems was the fact that Palermo supporters were unable to get into the Stadio Angelo Massimino until the second half.

Palermo took the lead after 55 minutes when Andrea Caracciolo scored off a pass from Bresciano. The goal coincided with the arrival of the Palermo fans. It was also the cue for the trouble to start.

Reports said fireworks had been lobbed into the area where the Palermo supporters were sitting. The Palermo fans fought back and tear gas made it impossible for play to continue.

The teams fled the pitch for the dressing room and the game was suspended for 30 minutes.

Within 60 seconds of the restart, Catania equalised through a Fabio Caserta goal.

Palermo's winning goal in the 83rd minute was controversial. David Di Michele netted but Catania claimed the ball had come off the striker's arm.

Palermo coach Francesco Guidolin said: "We won the match, but we cannot enjoy this victory."

Sydney Morning Herald