Posted on 02/04/2006 10:07:37 PM PST by July 4th
Italy's government and football authorities are on high alert at stadiums this weekend to combat a plague of racism and hooliganism contaminating the nation's favourite sport.
At a game last Sunday between Roma and Livorno - two clubs in Serie A, Italy's top league - crowds held aloft anti-Semitic and neo-Nazi banners insulting fans of Livorno and Lazio, Roma's rival club in the Italian capital.
One slogan read: "Lazio-Livorno, stessa iniziale, stesso forno" - "Lazio and Livorno, same initial, same oven". Another slogan, in German, read: "Gott mit uns" - "God with us", the inscription on the belt buckles of Nazi soldiers in the second world war.
The Italian football federation's disciplinary committee has ordered Roma to play their next home match at a neutral venue and behind closed doors, but some government ministers complained the punishment was too mild for the crime.
"The entire football world is going through a crisis, because the only thing that counts today is that the show goes on," said Gianfranco Fini, foreign minister. "The talk is all about 'zero tolerance' and then every Sunday these situations come up."
Giuseppe Pisanu, interior minister, blamed the incidents on rightwing extremists who infiltrated Roma's stadium, rather than the club's real fans. He said there was enough evidence to imprison the perpetrators for terms of three months to one year.
He also proposed that Italian football games be automatically suspended if symbols or slogans were on display that incited political violence, racism or xenophobia. Under existing laws, the police can stop football matches in mid-game but are not obliged to do so, meaning they have considerable discretion in assessing how dangerous or offensive an incident is.
Last Sunday's trouble was only the latest involving big Italian clubs. Last season Roma had to play two games in the Champions League, Europe's most prestigious club competition, behind closed doors after the referee in a Roma-Dynamo Kiev match suffered a head wound from a coin thrown from the stands. Lazio and Inter, a renowned Milan club, were also punished because of fans' behaviour.
The government has tried to crack down on hooliganism by increasing video surveillance inside stadiums.
Popcorn Time
Ungh, Nazis. Not these a--holes again.
Just watch...the EU media will likely bitch and moan about this more than they will about the psycho burning down their embassys
I'm not trying to defend these guys. They're probably dirt bags.(if they took on some muzzies, I would consider them tolerable dirt bags). It's just when I read stuff allegedly about racism, I want o see something substantial. If this is the best the author can come up with to make the case, I'm not convinced.
that-sa spicy foot-balla!
What's left unsaid is that the return of Nazism is at least in part due to the recent "muslim troubles" in France and elsewhere. Arabs will do just as nicely as Jews for a scapegoat- most Nazis probably can't tell the difference.
I am not above using the rising tide of neo-Nazism in Europe and Russia as a weapon, and pointing that weapon straight at the heart of militant Islam.
We just let the Nazis and the Jihadists fight a war of mutual extermination, then fall heavily upon the winner.
It could be worse. They could be Illinois Nazis
I hate Illinois Nazis.
LOL! I was waiting for someone to say that.
Golly and I thought it was just me that thought that.
Didn't we kill all these fools like six decades ago?
and dont forget lazio/livorno is northern italy which has alot of germanic blood in it. having said that, i do believe nazis new rise is due to europe being so anti white race. i know some euros who have emigrated and thats what they say and i have no reason to doubt them. they tell me that muslims and africans are treated like gold citizens, while native born are treated like dirt.
mama mia!...kicka that nazi in the a-hole!...
God forbid they hold aloft anti-Muslim banners
These twits and their ilk are like bad pennies.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.