Violence could halt Italian football/Calcio suspended (14 Viewers)

[Zé Tahir]

Violence could halt Italian games

The president of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) has threatened to halt all league football in the country after a weekend of violence.

On Saturday an official of amateur club Sammartinese died when he was caught up in a fight between players and fans.

Clashes between supporters and police continued in several cities on Sunday.

FIGC president Luca Pancalli said: "We are on high alert. To defend referees and the image of football, I am ready to take drastic measures."

The first outbreak of violence took place in the southern town of Luzzi.

Ermanno Licursi, 40, collapsed and died after being punched while trying to separate brawling players and fans at the end of Sammartinese's amateur game against Cancellese.

There were more clashes on Sunday which affected clubs in Serie A and B.

In Florence, a Livorno supporter needed 20 stitches in his head after being attacked by Fiorentina fans.

Police also had to battle a hundred Atalanta fans who tried to attack coaches carrying Catania fans.

And a Serie D game between Genzano and Normanna was suspended early in the second half after a linesman was hit by a drum thrown from the stands.

"I hope that with the contribution of everyone - officials, coaches and players on the pitch and also the true fans and football lovers in the stadiums - we can restore a climate of sportsmanship and respect that will avoid stopping the leagues," Pancalli added.

Story from BBC SPORT:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/sport2/hi/football/europe/6314949.stm

Published: 2007/01/30 18:28:31 GMT

 

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[Falafel]

not gonna happen

 

[AngelaL]

not gonna happen

I doubt it will happen. The truth is football violence in Italy is out of hand, because neither the police or the Italian football authorities do, or have done anything about it.
The problem is that it is affecting refereeing decisions - look at trefolini. He tried to avoid a Roma - Juve game, because he felt intimidated by the Roma fans (who are notorious for causing trouble). Look at the dreadful mess he made of officiating the March 2006 Roma - Juve game! All because he was afraid of the Roma fans! I know that Roma are not the only club with "fan trouble", but their fans have been a serious problem for at least two decades.
Halting the games! What good is that? The games will still have to be played. All this will do is delay the games. There are various options available.

1. The police should clamp down on the behaviour of both fans & players. Players bad behaviour is a bad example to the fans & fans see their hero's behaviour as acceptable.
2. The police should use their resources to find the ringleaders & ban them from football grounds (via legal action) & other legal action against them as appropriate.
3. Legal action between clubs for damages, when fans vandalised other clubs property

Figc should take action against the teams of unruly fans; for example: -

1. They could fine clubs.
2. They could deduct points from the team.
3. They could make them play behind "closed doors". This would make the fans realise that they will not get to see their heros play.

This was something our FA realised years ago & it worked! Our referees & other officials didn't have many problems, but if Italy has a problem of fans intimidating referees, then Figc should take action as above. When told that they would be penalised for fans behaviour, our clubs look for ways to rid themselves of such troublemakers. Our clubs were also given ways of dealing with such fans.

1. They could ban the troublemakers.
2. They could take their season tickets from them.
3. They could also take any legal action open to them against such "fans"

When our teams realised they could be penalised for fans behaviour they made it clear that they would use the means available to them (as above).
Thanks to this threefold action our trouble with fans are minimal in comparison to Italy.
Pity my Italian is non existent! I could have translated this and sent it to Figc!

 

[.zero]

I doubt it will happen. The truth is football violence in Italy is out of hand, because neither the police or the Italian football authorities do, or have done anything about it.

This was something our FA realised years ago & it worked! Our referees & other officials didn't have many problems, but if Italy has a problem of fans intimidating referees, then Figc should take action as above. When told that they would be penalised for fans behaviour, our clubs look for ways to rid themselves of such troublemakers. Our clubs were also given ways of dealing with such fans.

1. They could ban the troublemakers.
2. They could take their season tickets from them.
3. They could also take any legal action open to them against such "fans"

i think in italy its a different situation, the FIGC will never get their sh** together on this matter, the violence and the racism are out of control and these little measures would not suffice, its gonna take a horrible incident to garner any kind of hard hitting action from the powers that be.

 

[AngelaL]

I agree that the situation is out of control. The reason for that is because the police & Figc/La lega should have taken action years, if not decades ago. The years of non action have made the situation worse.
We were lucky in that the SFA took action decades ago, when Scotland beat England at Wembly. There was not the scale of trouble you see in Italy, but so many Scottish fans took "Souvenirs" (little pieces of the pitch) that there were big patches where the turf was pinched from & one "smart" guy climbed on top of the goalposts to sit on the crossbar to wave at the crowd & cameras. His mates decided to join him. Although it wasn't their intention to break the crossbar, the bar broke under their collective weight & the English never let go of it. They made such a song & dance about it that the SFA announced that they would take steps to prevent unruly behaviour. They & the police have since added other restrictions/legalities to reduce the problem further - as stated above plus: -
The police can arrest anyone, inside or outside the ground who is D&D (drunk & disorderly - an offence in our country) and
They made it illegal for alcohol or any type of weapon to be brought into the football grounds.

 

[Gill_juve]

if this happens then all of football will be halted, look at english football and how they are away from home ni the world cup for example

 

[Il Re]

There is still a big problem of racism and crowd trouble here in england but they try to cover it up and pretend thats not the case. In regard to italy there needs to be something done fast, the stadiums desperately need to be remodernised and the crowd trouble needs to be sorted out. If Italy wants to host Euro 2008 something has got to change now....

 

[metalhead]

I find it odd that I only read this piece of news on the BBC and nowhere else. Starting from all the moaning about divers to provocative headlines about stopping other major european leagues because of violence/racism, it seems that they're cant find some real news to report. They always find a problem in the game somewhere in europe, while I see divers in the Priemieship and objects thrown at players in England as well.

I'm not saying that violence/racism should be allowed to continue, but if Italy take the same steps that were taken in England and we have a stadium full of children and tourists then its gonna be a problem IMO.

Italy have a different culture, flags are allowed, even flares are lit before the matches. The fans in curva give a different feel in Italy.

The main problem for me is trying to stop fighting between fans. If it means more police in the stands with more authority to arrest then they should do it. I also think stadium bans should be used.

Saying that nothing is done about the problem is not totally true, as I remember the introduction of the photo ID requirement to enter the stadiums last year. I also remember Catania getting stadium bans for the problems their fans caused in the Sicilian derby this season. More should be done especially in the lower leagues

 

[Badass J Elkann]

There is still a big problem of racism and crowd trouble here in england but they try to cover it up and pretend thats not the case. In regard to italy there needs to be something done fast, the stadiums desperately need to be remodernised and the crowd trouble needs to be sorted out. If Italy wants to host Euro 2008 something has got to change now....

unfortunatly to say in england going to a footy match is more of a family day out, where as in italy its vibrant, full of passion and colour with tension between both fans, which i much rather prefer

 

[Ramin]

Channel4

The Serie A and B Championships have been suspended after the death of a policeman in the Catania riots.

FIGC President Luca Pancalli made the announcement this evening. “We will immediately set up a permanent round table commission to discuss the situation between sport and politics. It’s not possible to carry on like this. If this is football, then I’m stopping everything.”

The Sicilian derby, eventually won 2-1 by Palermo this evening, had been interrupted after 57 minutes due to crowd trouble when tear gas floated on to the pitch.

While play resumed and the final whistle sanctioned the Rosanero’s victory, the problems intensified outside the Stadio Massimino.

A large group of Catania supporters engaged in a full-scale riot with the police and one officer, 38-year-old Filippo Raciti, was killed when struck in the face by a homemade bomb.

It’s now reported that hundreds of people have been rushed to the local hospital with injuries, although none are thought to be life threatening.

This tragic incident comes just a week after Ermanno Licursi, director of Calabrian amateur side Sanmartinese, was killed in a fight with opposition players after the final whistle of a Serie D game against Cancellese.

The Amateur League was suspended and this latest shameful scenario has pushed the FIGC to take similar action with Serie A, B, C and the Youth Championships.

 

[Ahmedios]

Are these people insane? It is just football.

 

[Alltagsheld]

Italian games called off after death
By Nadia Carminati - Created on 2 Feb 2007

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All games in Italy have been postponed following a policeman's death at Palermo's Sicilian derby with Catania.

The police officer was killed in clashes between both sets of fans outside Stadio Massimino before and after the match.

The dead officer is believed to have been hit in the face by an explosive thrown by some fans.

Italian Federation commissioner Luca Pancalli and sport minister Giovanna Melandri made the decision to call off action over the weekend as a result of the tragedy.

The game itself was marred by crowd trouble with the second half held up for 30 minutes after tear gas was thrown onto the pitch.

Palermo won the game 2-1 with two controversial goals and Catania president Antonio Pulvirenti wants the game replayed and has blamed Palermo fans for the trouble.

"Clearly the incidents were provoked by the Palermo fans when they entered the stadium," said Pulvirenti.

"Before then, nothing had happened, but they started causing trouble and as the images show threw tear gas onto the pitch.

"They were well-organised and came here in order to cause trouble. We feel penalised and will appeal against the result so that the match will be considered void.

"We've been punished for less in the past and demand the same treatment.

"I was on the field and, if you look carefully, the section where the tear gas came from only had Palermo fans in there.

"The officials saw what happened and will take action."

confirmed

 

[Maresca]

what the fvck.. I finaly had the chance to see the game live..

these italian so called fans.. fvck off

 

[Trezegol17]

Those fans are idiots, they spoiled all matches this weekend and more important an innocent policeman died by the riots. R.i.P for him and i hope both clubs will get punished for this.

 

[Hambon]

Damn Catanians...

 

[Mark]

Championship suspended until the teams/cities make drastic changes with this situation - Pancalli

 

[Ahmedios]

Those fans are idiots, they spoiled all matches this weekend and more important an innocent policeman died by the riots. R.i.P for him and i hope both clubs will get punished for this.

R.I.P for the innocent policeman.

I agree, both clubs should be punished. :irritated

 

[ALEX ULTRA]

this is what happens when fans go to far,but these were not fans these were ultras that just want to cause trouble .....RIP for the officer ...does anyone have video of this?

 

[Badass J Elkann]

this is nothing new tbh, this is the culture of italian football which is dominated by rival ultra factions and mass town rivalries, im not so much surprised as what happened, but more in the fact this weeks football has been suspended, u dont happen to think turk was in this fight do u? i havnt heard from him for ages.

 

[Zambrotta]

I think it is a good decision. I hope they can remove the racism along with the hooliganism.