Guys, Just in case you don't know, during the Palermo-Catania game, a police officer was killed. How disgusting. I hope there is a relegation penalty for both teams.
yes, there won't be any matches played this weekend i heard...maybe even a week or 2 after that. RIP to this officer
I just herd that also. It reminds me of another SuperBowl weekend about 10-12 years ago when a kid was stabbed at a Genoa -Milan match....horrible. Just before the match, I translated an article from the GDS wheich I posted how Pippo Baudo was saying how he wanted to show everyone that there wouldn't be any violent acts etc etc....instead.........che fiasco!
why should the clubs be religated? what sense is that? you punish the fans for what the businessmen have created? Reggina were wrongfully punished for something that didnt even happen... but even if it did occure, what right did CONI have to punish we the fans???? the fans of catania and palermo are innocent in this case... why punish them... arrest all those that work for CONI... death to business! bring back football!
i agree with what you're saying...But if you make a bomb, throw it at someone and kill them...You deserve to be punished...
The only trouble with that is you are welcoming more violence. I mean if they are violent now while their teams are in such a high standing in the table (which I don't believe has ever happened to two Sicilian or Southern Italian teams) will like the idea of being penalized ? Do you really think fans of a 3rd and 4th or 5th place first division team will not react to getting punished? I mean unless you ban the teams from playing for good , I doubt there is a solution.
Exactly. I don't know about the rest of you, however, as an italian-american who lived in Italy until recently, its not that easy. Its kind of like how everyone jokes and/or knows about the mafia and tries to combat it, but they never do. The mentality especially from Naples on down is very particular. I have relatives in Reggio and in Sicily and I must say while I was there, brothers and sisters (well off doctors & lawyers who don't need it) seemed to fight like cats and dogs over a lousy piece of swamp property that wasn't worth a dime. The worst thing about it was no one wanted it but they had to fight until the end for "the honor" & "the principal" (oppure il principio) that would look silly in most American circles. What a joke. I can only imagine what these fans would do in general by relegating these teams! Meglio lasciare stare!
Better police tactics would have saved the officer's life. From CNN reports and the video the officer was in a SUV vehicle aggressively driving towards rioting Palermo fans (driving up and pulling away quickly in a cat and mouse maneuver) when a firebomb exploded on the windshield (not re-enforced either). Stupid.
And as a native American, that is pure bulls***. You want to know the reason all this crap continues and people invent reasons why they do things over honor and principle? It's cause the people that make decisions don't have a pair of balls to do what is necessary when someone commits a crime. Mafia's a problem? Get the military and take care of it! Hooligans a problem? Put them in jail and don't let them see the light of day! If it continues, disband the team. Sooner or later, people will get the message. Culture my ass. If the source of the crime is soccer, then remove the soccer completely, then the fans will have nowhere to go to fight each other.
They will never get the message. Its been going on for hundreds of years and now we will teach them? Mussolini tried to do exactly what you said to no avail. He arrested most of the mafiosi and put them all jail. The American military then secretly worked behind closed doors with Italian-American bosses in order to easier plan the invasion of Sicily. They made promises to the bosses here and there and when the Americans landed in Sicily they freed all the bosses by pretending or on the pretext they were all communist rebels. Those bosses were freed and given carte blanche after the war and became heads of state, mayors, lawyers, judges, police chiefs,generals, doctors etc. Their kids also became involved in what was and/or is the mafia only no one would ever dare call it that. Basically, the higher you go in society, the more crooked it gets. Therefore, if everyone from the top down is corrupt, how can the people combat this? Anyway, the rai just said this is the first time that an agent loses his life in a soccer game. He was 38 years old and he leaves behind a wife with 2 kids. Its a very sad state. All leagues are canceled and there is a week of stop planned in all categories, even the youth/reserve leagues.
@ryan, er...i won't even answer that question... Let me just say many people believe religion causes most wars...No religion does not cause wars, it's the people who have such a mentality who cause wars...and use religion as their tool. Football is like a religion in Italy and most parts of the world.
But it doesn't cause civil wars inside Italy. It's a simple solution, go up to a Catania/Palermo/whoever supporter and say "You want to keep watching football, be nice, or you'll never watch it again." If it's their damn religion they won't forsake it. Game is on FSC right now by the way (re-air).
Yeah then the person who told the guy to be nice finds a bomb in his wife's car when he starts it or his kids are kidnapped for ransome or even killed. Dude you won't ever get it until you live there! I know where you are coming from! I understand your mentality completely! I wanted the same thing before I lived there but it don't work! I'm more or just as American as you are but trust me ain't that easy!
Never been to the country, but before my dad went to Iraq in 2003, he went to NAMRA, which is the U.S. Navy's Mediterranean civilian headquarters (he works in aircraft maintenance). One was in Naples before the war where he stayed for a week and the other was Sicily at the end of his tour where he stayed a month. He said Naples was the most disgusting city he'd ever seen. You'd have a 2-lane road that would have 6 cars side-by-side, looks like the trash had not been picked up anywhere for a month. He called me up (first time in Europe) and said "Does all of Europe look like this?" I kinda told him "No. You went to the Detroit of Europe." After his tour, he went to Sicily and loved it. (here's the place: http://www.sicily.navy.mil/ncts/ ). The name of it is Sigonella and looks like it's 10 miles west of Catania. He said it reminded him of home (he's from Indiana, lots of countryside and rolling farmland there). He loved the restaurants that looked like normal homes. Not much of a wine person but it was kind of hinted to him he was always supposed to have the house wine. However, sometimes he would go to these places and he said a guy would come up to him and ask him in English if he wanted no one to touch his car. Well he knew what the guy was and what he was asking, but the government was paying for all his expenses (he works for the Dept of Defense), so he gave the guy a couple euros. The guy told him no one would touch his car. My dad just kinda looked at it as no different than an on-site Nationwide insurance, he didn't mind too much. On one hand, he liked Sicily. I think though his experience in Naples kinda made him wonder how the citizenry even knows how to tie their shoes.
It is sad that one of our fans did what he did, but this IS the longest riverly in Sicily for that matter. Fights similar to these have been going on the last couple of years when both teams were in Serie B also. Its all polital BS! The Palermo fans promote thier mafia image and the Catania fans could care less about how those palermo fans are trying to intimidate them, and this was the result.
Ryan, yes Napoli might look like a dump, but it still has the best pizza and food in all of Italy. The women are amazing too. And never forget that some of the greats played for Napoli.