Palermo would like to remind you that the Mafia disgust them

By: Bob | September 25th, 2006

Palermo is taking the high road (kind of) in their small little feud with West Ham ahead of Thursday’s UEFA Cup showdown. The Italian side will be handing out specially made t-shirts to West Ham fans before the match that read “The mafia disgust me. Liberty is ‘Cosa Nostra’,” the Italian nickname for the mafia which translated literally means ‘Our thing’.

While we’re sure that Hammers fans will appreciate the souvenirs, especially since their future owners might actually be card carrying members of the mob, the gesture is less than magnanimous. It is in response to some shirts that were selling in London before the first leg between the two teams that oh so cleverly read “Hammers Against the Mafia.”

“It’s the way that we have chosen to give the English fans a welcome to our land, a way in which to put an end to the incident with the shirts which put the word mafia next to the city of Palermo,” Sicilian governor Salvatore Cuffaro said on Monday.

“The only difference is that for their offensive t-shirts you had to pay seven pounds, while ours will be given as presents to say welcome and goodbye. Goodbye because Palermo will win on Thursday and West Ham will go out of the UEFA Cup. Of that I am sure.”

You have to love a trash talking governor.

Lest you start feeling all warm and fuzzy about football in Italy, there are reports out now that Inter Milan is being investigated for possibly spying on disgraced referee Massimo De Santis, a key figure in the scandal that just won’t go away.

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Category: Europe, Serie A

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Gian Luca

The problem is you can't punish a team for something that's selling on the street.

But the point is, in a way, well taken: Everyone jumps up at alleged comments (which later were dispelled by the same victim) made by Materazzi to Zidane, but nobody complains about racists remarks like that, which equate team Palermo to mafia.

Weren't the English the ones waving the flag of the "beautiful game"? Like my mother says, "Tutt'il mondo e' paese." (literally, "The whole world is like a country.")
insearchoffootball

all that i am tryign to really say is that there are rule for some and diffrent rules fore other (or maybe its just called being prejudice or jelous i donno any more)
insearchoffootball

hey what is the diffrence between what they did (ie. hammers V the maffia) and calling a black man a N***** ... like seriously, which just goes t oshow taht all that stuff is the biggest load of crap ... oh you cant say thoes things to eto and you cant call zidane a tarroris, but fifa have done nothing to punish the english for wat they did to the italian!!