Sunday,
February 04, 2007
The
ANNOTICO Reports
The
English as usual, will downplay how they invented Hooliganism, and completely
out of control their Hooligan problem was, and how they unleashed it on an
unsuspecting
Now
the English speak in a superior manner on that which they infected others with.
There
is one Big and Serious Distinction...... "The Ultras"
.......
I
rarely change Headlines in Articles, but this was SO Extreme and Chauvinistic,
I CORRECTED!!
The
Observer
Guardian
Unlimited
Kevin
Buckley in
Sunday, February 4, 2007
'We
have to learn from the English,' cry frustrated Italian commentators each time
the face of calcio is scarred by an outbreak of
violence. 'If they can solve their hooligan problem, why can't we?'
The similarities
between
The ultras - the
extreme - are the most diehard followers who proudly sport the tag as a sign of
their loyalty, be it to big-name Serie A clubs or to
semi-professional squads in Serie D. In the top
division, Internazionale,
Most
card-carrying members are in their late teens or twenties, but many are in
their thirties and forties. Most are male. Each group occupies a strictly
delineated area of the curva - kop - usually behind the
goal, displaying flags that often boast names from 1970s political urban
violence - Brigatte, Commandos - although few now
have political allegiances. Most ultra groups are not hooligans, but many are.
Some are run as profitable commercial enterprises, often led by capi - bosses - made up of middle-aged men for whom it is a
full-time job.
The violent
minority hide among the majority, but after Friday's killing of a policeman at
the match involving Catania and Palermo - a crime for which the ultras are likely
to be blamed - Renzo Uliviero,
chairman of the Italian federation of coaches, said: 'There aren't just a few
of them, there are many. They are organised. They go
to the stadiums to attack the police. Until we accept that fact then we really
won't get anywhere.'
Uliviero should know. He once had
to face down an ultras invasion of one of his training sessions. Unlike British
football, almost all Italian stadiums are owned by local authorities, prompting
much buck-passing when things go wrong. Alarmingly, two thirds of Italian
grounds fail to meet safety standards, but clubs obtain 'temporary' safety
certificates on a weekly basis.
Italian club
chairmen routinely condemn ultra excesses, but in private they collude with the
capi, often using them as unofficial ticketing
agencies for some of the biggest fixtures in European football. Some clubs
collude through fear - ultras have been known to invade post-match changing
rooms when results are bad.
Ultras
traditionally raise funds from charging membership subscriptions, with larger
groups producing branded merchandise and taking 'commission' on ticket sales.
The key to the ultras is their organisation, which is
what makes possible the wonderful match-day choreography that dwarfs anything
seen in
Four Leeds fans
were put in hospital with stab wounds on the club's last visit to
Inside stadiums,
where stewards are often ultra members, anyone entering the 'wrong' zone risks
attack and groups following the same club sometimes clash. Last season, one
group of
The curva is a no-go area for the Italian police, who are
poorly trained. Most earn less than 2,000 (about #1,300) a month. The country's
World Cup win last summer showed that on the pitch
http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2005692,00.html
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