The Fog of Uncertainty in Italy Lifts a Little

By: Bob | February 8th, 2007

The fog of uncertainty that has hung over Italian football since the death of a policeman last week has started to lift. What we know now is that police have detained a 17-year-old in connection to the murder. We also know football will be played this weekend in the country. We now know that six of thirty-one major stadiums currently meet security requirements and fans will only be allowed in to those six stadiums – Rome, Genoa, Siena, Cagliari, Turin and Palermo. All other arenas will remained closed to the public until they meet the security requirements.

The reaction to Italian football being played in empty stadiums has naturally been mixed.

Lega Calcio head Antonio Matarrese said after a meeting of the clubs’ representatives:

“After a very lively discussion where many different opinions came up against each other, I have to communicate that we decided to play, to demonstrate our seriousness and our share of the responsibility for the country’s problems.”

Said Adriano Galliani, vice-president of AC Milan:

“It was a great test of maturity on the part of the (club) chairmen. There’s still a great deal of bitterness because we were not consulted by the government.”

Livorno striker Cristiano Lucarelli, who represents his team at the Italian players’ union, is among the camp that thinks playing the sport without fans is not the best solution.

“We respect the government’s decisions but we cannot accept that certain teams play without a crowd and others with full stands,” said Lucarelli. “We could stop to think about it for one more Sunday. Yesterday (Wednesday) the club presidents sounded out the AIC to know if we are ready, if needs be, for a strike day. And we said yes.”

The talk of a player strike has been largely scuttled and it is difficult to believe it would actually happen.

And finally there is there are those who think that there needs to be a stronger punishment:

“They should stop football not just for one day but a whole year. It’s the only way these people will understand,” Roman football fan Marco Turchi said.

“Until we begin to touch the interests of the clubs nothing will change,” Giuseppe Martini, another fan, said.

As for my opinion, I think they have almost gotten largely correct. They should reward the teams that are up to code by allowing them to have fans. They should also punish the clubs with inadequate facilities by closing their gates and cutting off their revenue until they provide a safe environment for all spectators. Still, there is a part of me that agrees with the fans who think a more severe message needs to be sent to all the parties involved and that we may be talking about this all over again in due time.

On a lighter and completely unrelated note, here’s a time when the Italian players were singing a different tune.