ROME (AFP) -- The specter of football violence resurged in Italy on Sunday as the shooting dead of a fan sparked nationwide disturbances which forced the suspension of several Serie A matches.

The victim, named as 26-year-old Gabriele Sandri, was killed by a police officer at a motorway service station in Arezzo in what was a ""tragic error,"" authorities in the central Tuscany region said.
The death comes just nine months after a police officer was killed outside the Catania Stadium in Sicily, leading the government to reinforce measures against violence in stadia.
The Catania tragedy in February led to a suspension of Italian football, with numerous stadia forced to make improvements to ensure improved security.
A new body The National Observer for Sporting Events was created by the Italian government to help stamp out violence.
But the progress which the body claimed to have made with a reported 70 percent decline in hooliganism, was hit on Sunday by the shooting dead of Sandri by a police officer who had intervened following a fight between supporters of rival football teams Juventus and Lazio.
According to witness reports, Sandri was traveling to Milan by car with other fans to attend the match against Inter Milan when they clashed with Juventus fans at a service station.
A police officer who was in the area intervened and Sandri, who was sitting in his car, was fatally hit in the neck by gunfire.
""Our officer intervened to ensure that skirmishes between two groups of people, who had not been identified as (football) fans, did not degenerate with serious consequences for both parties,"" local prefect Vincenzo Giacobbe said.
The Italian Football Federation later announced that the match between Lazio and Inter Milan had been postponed.
As a mark of respect seven other Serie A matches scheduled Sunday started ten minutes late with the players and referees wearing black armbands. But the atmosphere was tense and clashes broke out before several games.