ROME (AFP) - Italy´s sports minister Giovanna Melandri pledged that "important measures" will be quickly introduced to battle the plague of hooliganism which claimed the life of a policeman at a match on Friday.

"Tomorrow (Monday) is going to be very important," said Melandri.

"We are going to put in place a series of important measures with immediate effect."

On Monday, a crisis meeting will be held which will include the minister of justice Justice Clemente Mastella, interior minister Giuliano Amato, Melandri, Italian Olympic committee (CONI) president Gianni Petrucci and Italian football federation chief Luca Pancalli.

However, prime minister Romano Prodi will miss the meeting as he is on a visit to Luxemburg.

The funeral of Filippo Raciti, the Italian police officer killed in Friday´s riot in Catania, will take place at the Sicilian city´s cathedral on Monday morning.

Raciti, 38, leaves behind a wife and two sons. The funeral is will be televised live by Italian state broadcaster RAI.

Raciti died after a home-made bomb was thrown into his car as police officers came under attack from Catania fans outside the Massimino stadium following the derby match against Palermo.

After the riot, all domestic and international matches were suspended until further notice.

According to some media reports, the meeting on Monday may push for all games to be played behind closed doors.

Other reports even suggest that the football programme may reappear in two weeks´ time.

However, Melandri refused to give a date for football to return.

"We can´t give a response tonight," said the minister. "I don´t know if we can give a response tomorrow."

Pancalli said a return to action would depend on "the long term strategies to be put in place. It´s not easy to repair the damage in a week or 10 days".