European Football

ROME, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Napoli fans will not be allowed to travel to their club's away games this season after violence marred Sunday's Serie A opener at AS Roma, Italy's Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said on Tuesday.

The Italian railway said supporters of the Naples club caused 500,000 euros ($725,700) damage after fighting with police and railway workers and boarding a Rome-bound train without tickets on Sunday.

"Tomorrow I'll send a directive to the prefects to identify all those who were part of the other day's mob so that they will be prevented from attending sporting events for two years and reported to magistrates," Maroni told Rai television.

"Secondly, Napoli fans will be banned from away matches for the whole championship."

The fans effectively occupied the train in Naples and, after they refused to get off, police advised regular passengers to disembark and take other trains.

There were also scuffles outside Rome's Olympic stadium between police and Napoli fans and more incidents on the supporters' return journey after the match, which ended 1-1.

Italy has a serious hooliganism problem. A policeman and a fan of Rome club Lazio were killed in separate incidents last year.

Maroni said that the authorities may decide to stage some high-risk games behind closed doors in the future.

Napoli fans were frequently hit by bans on travelling to away games last season, but the authorities wanted to give them the chance to prove they had turned a new leaf by letting them attended the Roma match.

The Italian Soccer Federation may order Napoli to play some home matches behind closed doors after Sunday's trouble, media reported.

"We must do the utmost to weaken these gangs of delinquents who are polluting our sport," Italian Soccer Federation President Giancarlo Abete said on Monday.