Inter Pay The Price For Fan Banner

By: chris | August 6th, 2008

This story is quite surprising because as everyone knows, the Italian football fans love each other dearly and never ever argue. Last summer there were some issues at an Inter – Napoli game due to some banners which were floating around the San Siro insulting the Neapolitans in the crowd. One particular banner said (above) “Napoli Fogna D’Italia“, meaning Napoli is the sewer of Italy. Others were a bit more detailed, like “Ciao cholera sufferers!”, in reference to a little garbage snafu which left the trash on the streets of Italy.

One unnamed fan, smartly unnamed fan actually, was so deeply hurt by these accusations that he sued Internazionale for “existential damage” and, gasp, he won. Not enough to retire on the beaches of Sardinia, but a smooth 1500 plus lawyer fees and all that junk is pretty decent for the price of, uh, attending a Serie A game. (Assuming he’s from Napoli, his team lost 2-1 also.) The team was also forced to close some sections of the stadium during the season – little slap on the wrist there also.

Is this ridiculous? Absolutely. The San Siro, like nearly every other stadium in Italy, has had some fan issues in the past, but this really isn’t one. Sports games are a place for aggressive and sometimes hurtful banter. So you’re going through a rough time, it’ll come back around to them eventually and you’ve got your ammo. It’s part of the fun of attending a game. They call you trash, you call them fat slobs with poor grooming habits and it escalates to something PG-13 from there. And if you don’t like it, go watch golf or something.

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ursus arctos

That isn't completely fair, J.

Both the "sewer" and "cholera" memes predate the current crisis by decades. They have been part of the anti-Neapolitan/anti-Southern nonsense that Al rightly decries for as long as I can remember; I first heard cholera chants directed at Maradona's Napoli, and they weren't new then.

As to what's happened, the immediate situation has improved with the forced re-opening of several waste sites (backed by a military presence in a number of cases), but all of the structural problems continue to plague the region, and there are still substantial volumes of unattended garbage away from the city centre and tourist spots.
Johonna

Except for the fact that the banner is referring to the ongoing mafia-related garbage problem in Naples and was not a racist remark [probably - I didnt make the banner]. The garbage has been piling up since last May and there actually have been recent cases of cholera (which was the topic of one of the banners).

Earlier this year, the EU threatened to sue Italy over the problem, but I dont know what action, if any, has been taken.
Al Di Livorno

I cannot concur. Being the Northern League's neo-fascist hatred of the South (such comments as all Southerners are really African- implying something's wrong with that anyway) and that the Naples situation was a crisis it was more as if neo-nazis showed up to a New York Jets- New Orleans Saints game and had signs saying "N*****ers enjoying a good swim". Prejudice/racism is rampant in Football/soccer- this was a clear, welcome, message to kick racism out. Chris, just a serious question, are you a Lazio/De Canio fan?
Thanks all- Antifa Per Sempre
ursus arctos

It goes to a regional court, likely still to be in Napoli, but can ultimately be appealed to the highest civil court in Rome.

The Italian justice system is notoriously inefficient and slow, and it wouldn't surprise me at all if such appeals were still not resolved five years from now.
elle

where's the fun of going to games if the opposing team's fans don't insult you?
shehan

inter fans were always a bunch of racist monkeys anyway, this is no shocker at all.
Matt

Agree with Greg about this type of banter. Definitely heard worse stuff all across the world.

That's interesting about Italian law, ursus. Does it go to a higher court outside Napoli now?
Greg

PS- 'Breched' is non proofread internet comment for the English word 'breached'
Greg

The American Throw(foot)ball league just released a code of fan conduct that if breched and documented will lead to the "guilty" fan(s) getting the banhammer. I don't have the link handy but a quick Googling of 'NFL' and 'code of conduct' should yield the ridiculous new rules. English comedian Eddie Izzard foreshadowed such.a world a few years ago commenting on California's smoking ban by saying that we'll have to go the library to have fun anymore. Racism and sectarianism are totally different animals from chiding and silly banter. No al calcio moderno!!!!
ursus arctos

Where it goes from here is that Inter will appeal, and win. Perhaps not in the next court, but eventually.

Also keep in mind that Italy is not a common law country like the US; there is no precedential value to this decision outside of the Neapolitan court in which it was brought.
Matt

Certainly sets an interesting precedent for some Italian derbies. If that sign wins someone 1500 quid, imagine how much the Roma sign saying "Livorno and Lazio, both should burn in the oven!" :D
Jonathan

The result of this is really quite ridiculous, especially when taking into account the amount of regionalist and often racist abuse that takes place in Italy. Where will it go from here? Will they start trying to enforce punishment of every such incident?