Fifteen people were arrested during clashes between police and fans after last night's Rome derby between Lazio and AS Roma was suspended following a false rumour that a child had been run over and killed by a police car outside the Olympic Stadium.
Twenty-four people were hurt, but none seriously, and the match was abandoned despite repeated assurances from police over the Stadio Olimpico PA that in fact nobody had been killed.
Fans on both ends of the stadium wrapped up their usual array of banners immediately before the chaos that resulted in the suspension after 48 minutes of play with the game goalless.
Roma captain Francesco Totti and Lazio defender Sinisa Mihajlovic, along with match officials, were questioned by police after midnight to try and determine what exactly happened and how the rumour started.
Neither Totti nor Mihajlovic spoke to reporters after the questioning. As the second half began, most of fans at one end of the stadium - Lazio's end - began chanting "murderers" at the police and demanded that the game be stopped because they claimed police had run over the boy.
Some fan representatives ran on to the field to discuss their stance with Totti and other players. After a few moments of bewilderment, referee Roberto Rosetti suspended the game.
Police spokesman Maurizio Improta said the rumor was completely unfounded and told Sky TV, which was broadcasting the match, that "nothing had happened."
Repeated announcements on the stadium public address system reiterated that no major incident had occurred. Rosetti later said he stopped the game for "reasons of public order." Outside the stadium, fans set small fires and police in riot gear were battled with unruly fans, who hurled paving stones and flares.
"There was a rumor that a boy was run over by a police car," Mihajlovic said in an interview with RAI state radio. "We did the right thing. If we played, this could have gotten very bad."
League president Adriano Galliani said he had given Rosetti the final OK to suspend the match and that since both teams agreed on the decision, the match would be replayed.
"I spoke with everyone and they were aware of the situation," Galliani said. "It was up to me, I decided on the suspension and therefore the game will be replayed."