Just 10 months after a police officer was killed in violent scenes outside the Catania Stadium in Sicily, a Biancoceleste supporter has lost his life.

Arezzo head of police Vincenzo Giacobbe confirmed that a man had died and did not deny media reports that the fatal bullet had come from a police weapon.

"This is a tragic mistake," he said. "Our agent had intervened to prevent the fracas between two groups of people - that had not been considered fans - degenerating into a situation with serious consequences for both groups.

"I express my most profound pain and sincere condolences to the victim's family."

It is uncertain whether the Lazio fan was travelling to the game at the San Siro in Milan but the Italian Football Federation have postponed the game.

"The FIGC entirely assumes responsibility for the decision to postpone the game between Internazionale and Lazio," said FIGC president Giancarlo Abete.

"I would be intellectually dishonest if I said that we had not considered postponing all of today's games.

"But in the end, we believe that we have taken the right decision.

"The incident has yet to be clarified and it should not create any animosity between the fans and the police because what has happened is not yet clear."

Italian prime minister Romano Prodi expressed his shock over Sunday's events.

Prodi was in church when a government aid informed him that a Biancoceleste supporter had died.

Prodi said: "These are episodes that increase concern.

"I was made aware of the situation by the minister of interior while I was in mass."

The Catania tragedy back in February led to a suspension of Italian football, with numerous stadia forced to make improvements to ensure better security.

The Italian government also created an independent body, L'Osservatorio nazionale sulle manifestazione sportive, to clamp down on football violence.

Since its creation, the body has rated some games as 'high risk' and prevented fans from travelling to support their clubs in those encounters, including Saturday's Palermo v Napoli game in Sicily.

A Lazio spokesman, Giacomo Mazzocchi, said of the incident: "It's shocking and inexplicable. We are still asking ourselves how could something like this have happened. It's a tragedy."