What a dreadful night for football.

[bobby1]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/6326513.stm


A terrible tragedy and one that was waiting to happen i'm afraid.

[kinboshi]

It is terrible, but how long has Italian football been turning a blind eye to hooliganism?  As have FIFA and UEFA.

[bobby1]

It is terrible, but how long has Italian football been turning a blind eye to hooliganism?  As have FIFA and UEFA.

Exactly mate, and you can add fixing matches and bribery, Its about time Italian footy got what it deserved.

[kinboshi]

It's just a shame an innocent man had to die. 

[bobby1]

It's just a shame an innocent man had to die. 

yes, such waste of life.

[Div]

I took the Mrs to the San Siro to see Inter v Juve.

Before the game there were a few small skirmishes right outside the stadium, which the police solved with nightsticks and a lot of elbow grease. Nothing too major, though it spooked the Mrs.

What really got me, was when we got to our seats we were in what was obviously the tourist section - where all the internet tickets were situated. American tourists with expensive cameras rather unwisely on display, etc...

During the game a big squad of seriously mean looking ultras ambled into our section and spread themselves out amongst us. I think they were looking for Juve fans who might have snuck in.

The police completely ignored them, and let them scour the area, before heading off after about 10 minutes without any questions asked.

By the end of the game the Juve end had plenty seats well alight. Again with no action taken by the police.

My only other experience in Italy was at Juve v Celtic, and again we spent the last ten minutes of the game dodging flying seats,  as the locals took exception to our equaliser and the police turned a blind eye. Marcio 'cheating b@stard' Amoruso maybe saved us from a few more sore heads with his last minute dive.

[Royal Flush]

It's incidents like this that make me sad to be an Italian football fan. The Italian league is having a meteoric fall from grace, 10 years ago it was the best football league in the world, now you could argue its not even in the top 3. From corruption to violence things keep getting worse.

I might add though its not always like that, i watched a Milan derby in the San Siro without incident, i long for those days to return!

[Nem]

I watched a Milan Derby with one fan throwing a scooter over the rail from the 2nd tier!

Absolutely disgraceful.

[KingPoker]

Its allowed to carry on because the hooligans have a huge hold over the top brass of the main teams. Evryone knows how corrupt it is at the top!

[Longy]

What a terrible mess Italian football is, they have hooliganism problems that are as bad as England in the mid eighties. On top of that the game has corruption at almost every level.

Unfortunately football is mirroring the worst parts of Italian life, politics there is corrupt and quite mad. I remember i went to Italy on a school exchange when i was 14 and i was watching the TV with the Italian family i was staying with and there was a mass brawl in parliament. I asked what it was about and was told that it was about the AC Milan vs Juve game the previous weekend where Juve had been given a controversial penalty.

What a shame as its a wonderful country to visit.

[Royal Flush]

The Government has passed new laws clamping down on football violence, including banning evening kick-offs and closing San Siro.

“We have approved Draconian measures,” commented Minister for Infrastructure Antonio Di Pietro at the end of this evening’s crisis talks. “If stadiums are not up to code, they will be closed to fans.”

The decree is 15 pages long and counts 13 articles ordering that all venues pass the tests set out by the Legge Pisanu, which was introduced in 2005.

The clubs have asked for at least their season ticket holders to be allowed in, but that issue will be decided after another meeting on Thursday.

Among the famous stadiums closed down as a result of the new regulations are Milan’s San Siro and the San Paolo in Naples.

Also, in February there will be no evening kick-offs, so all games must be played in the afternoon.

From now on supporters will be banned from possession of flares, smoke bombs or firecrackers up to 24 hours before and after a sporting event.

Clubs are urged to create a staff of stewards to police the fans, but there will be heavy fines if they employ someone with a criminal record for this role.

Suspected hooligans can now be arrested 48 hours after the incident rather than the current 36, while the prison sentence for resisting arrest is raised to a minimum of five years to a maximum of 15.