Player banned after being shot dead

An Italian amateur footballer has been given a one-match ban nine days after he was shot dead outside a bar in southern Italy.

Luigi Coluccio, 23, was killed on 1 November while pulling down the shutters of his bar in Gioiosa Jonica. Police sources said the shooting appeared to be connected with an extortion racket linked to the local mafia.

Coluccio, who played in the Calabrian amateur league for the local club, was sent off on 29 October against Bocale.

Nino Cosentino, the president of the regional league, said yesterday that the posthumous suspension was unavoidable since the referee's report had been submitted before the shooting.

He said the judge had to issue a ban since such details could be important at the end of the season in deciding a fair play prize and relegation issues.

Five other men were shot dead in the same Calabrian town on the same day in a separate mafia-style killing.